


Oh, Captain, My Captain!

by esompthin



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Fusion, Garnet disapproves, Gemsonas - Freeform, Original Character(s), Secrets, Size Kink, and being confident, failed fusion, i dunno what to tag this as lmao, i just like my ocs okay and im such a nerd that i wrote a fic about them soooo, its about loving yourself, like Lav loves being held, maybe some loving others too, so they go to earth, unsable fusion, which imma call a size kink
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-09-19 02:45:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9414545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esompthin/pseuds/esompthin
Summary: A story about my gemsonas: Lavender Chalcedony and Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl. The two are part of a platoon that must go to the Earth colony in order to discover why so many of the Homeworld's ships haven't come back after being sent there. Along the way, Lavender must find the courage to believe in herself, the horrors of Homeworld, and the darkness of her own mind.





	1. A New Chance

Pain and fear shot through the Lavender Chalcedony as she was hurled across the room by her superior. Her body tumbled across the floor, shaking as she skidded to a stop. Her superior, a large and cruel Shadow Agate stalked up to her, pulling out her whip.

"Stand up! Don't you dare make me look bad in front of our Diamond!" She cracked her whip at Lavender, wrapping it around her wrist and pulling her forcefully up to her feet. Gripping Lavender hard enough to bruise her pale blue skin, Shadow Agate hissed, "Now listen to me you piece of crust, this is your fault. You make me look bad every single time you fuck up. This was the last time, so now, you're going to stand before our Diamond and accept your fate. She's going to shatter you and I'll never have to deal with your incompetence ever again."

Lavender flinched, nodding slightly, "Yes, Shadow."

The Agate rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything else, the door to White Diamond's room opened. A beautiful Pearl with a clear shawl wrapped around her stepped to the side and gestured into the elegant room.

"My Diamond will to see you now." the Pearl murmured, her voice just barely above a whisper. Agate gave Lavender one last glare before striding into the throne room. The Pearl didn't even blink as the Chalcedony shot her a pleading look. This Pearl was trained well, it seems. She was a replacement for the Diamond's last Pearl, who decided to become a rebel. It was highly unlikely Lavender would get any sympathy from her. The door closed behind them and the Pearl led the way to the throne room.

"My Diamond." Shadow Agate greeted, saluting loyally. "I have brought you the useless Chalcedony."

The being towering before them blinked down at the Agate with an unimpressed expression. The sharp lines of her jaw, the dull gaze in her eyes, and the demanding glint of her gem was enough to have Lavender fidgeting nervously. A gorgeous white diamond sat right in the middle of the Diamond's forehead. Lavender's own gem was in the same spot; hidden behind her teal green hair. White Diamond's gaze slid to behind the Agate, locking eyes with Lavender. She immediately ducked her head and saluted; trying her best to be still.

"Why has this Chalcedony failed every task you have given her?" The Diamond asked slowly, an accusatory tone lacing her words.

"B-because she is worthless; scrawny and uncoordinated. She couldn't even beat a cracked Pearl." Shadow Agate said. The Pearl, once again, was unresponsive; standing still and pristine next to her Diamond's throne. "She's not a warrior and she's not a gem."

Lavender flinched as she felt Agate's gaze on her, "She's just a waste of your space and time, my Diamond."

There was a long pause as they waited for the Diamond's response. Lavender was shaking uncontrollably, tears starting to form in her eyes. She knew she was a goner, she knew would not be walking out of this room. Shadow Agate was right about everything; Lavender wasn't good at anything she did. She failed every single assignment given to her. She couldn't fight, she wasn't smart, she wasn't even pretty. There was no purpose for a gem like her.

"Are you telling me you can't properly train a soldier?" Was the Diamond's response.

Lavender's head shot up in shock, she stared at her Diamond, speechless. Shadow Agate was much the same, she took an involuntary step backwards, blinking rapidly.

"No, my Diamond, I- I just mean that _she_ is the problem. All of my other soldiers are top-notch! She is the only one that has failed you." Agate said, suddenly a lot less sure about the situation.

The Diamond then pulled up a holographic screen, pressing various buttons until a gem's face was before her, saluting.

A staticy voice came through the reception, "My Diamond?"

"Come to the throne room. Bring a Chrysoberyl." White Diamond said and then flicked the picture away.

Shadow Agate's brows furrowed, "A Chrysoberyl? Why… why would a Chrysoberyl shatter her? Wouldn't, wouldn't a different gem have that job?"

White Diamond raised an elegant eyebrow, "Whoever said I was going to shatter her?"

A shiver ran through Lavender's body, the hair on her arms rose as she took in the words. She couldn't stop the soft gasp escaped her lips, "...W-what?"

The Diamond blinked at her and said simply, "Supplies are low. I don't have the luxury to shatter every bad soldier."

"My Diamond, you can't be serious…" Shadow Agate argued, "This piece of dirt isn't just bad; she's- she's the worst. I have never seen a gem so incapable in all my life!"

Lavender shifted her weight from foot to foot, "If I may, my Diamond, she's right."

White Diamond tilted her head, "You _want_ to be shattered?"

"I… want what's best for you, my Diamond." Lavender replied softly, lowering her gaze, "I can not help your cause in any way. I am only a hindrance to you, my Diamond."

The Diamond clicked her tongue, "We shall see about that."

Just then the door behind them opened and an Emerald walked in with a short Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl trotting behind her. Lavender wondered how anyone could be so casual in the presence of a Diamond. The Chrysoberyl smiled happily and waved to the Pearl as she passed. The only response she got was a curt nod.

"I grabbed the first one I saw, my Diamond. Will this one do?" The Emerald asked, gesturing to the Chrysoberyl, who was gazing around the room with her one eye. Where the other would be was a yellowish-orange gem with a sharp line through the middle. How convenient that the Cat's Eye's gem was her eye.

"Very well. Thank you." White Diamond replied. The Emerald saluted and then walked back out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Shadow Agate turned to her superior, "What is the meaning of this?"  
Ignoring her, Diamond said, "Chrysoberyl, this Chalcedony is inferior."

The Cat's Eye's gaze snapped to Lavender, a large gasp escaping her small being. "What!?"

Lavender bit her lip, looking away, "I am to be shattere-"

"Oh, nononononono no!" Cat's Eye interrupted, rushing forward and grabbing Lavender's hands, "no, my darling, there's no reason for you to be shattered! Look at how fantastic you are! I wish I was as tall as you and your hands are so soft! Wow! You have freckles! Did you do that on purpose? I want freckles! I should do that for my next form. And my stars, your gem is so shiny! I was wondering how you did that…" She kept rattling on and Lavender looked up to Shadow Agate, who looked disgusted and then to White Diamond, who was observing a new hologram.

"My Diamond?" Lavender questioned.

"The Earth colony has proven to be more difficult than originally anticipated." The Diamond replied, not looking away from her screen. "Every ship we send there never returns, for one reason or another."

"Okay?"

"I'm sending you there." White Diamond stated, finally turning to gaze at her.

Lavender pulled her hands out of Cat Eye's grip in shock, "WHAT!?"

"I need intel on what is destroying my soldiers. With your abilities, it would be easy." White Diamond said, pressing more buttons on her hologram. "I'll send with you a Topaz and an Aventurine."

"E-excuse me?!" Lavender was having a hard time thinking all of this through with Cat's Eye still jabbering in her ear about how pretty her hair was.

"Chrysoberyl." White Diamond said, getting the short gem's attention.

"Yes, my Diamond? Oh, you look lovely today! I wish I could see you all the time, like Pearl does. You're so lucky, Pearl, to get to always get to look at our Diamond-"

The Diamond didn't even blink, apparently used to the chatterbox. "I'm sending you to Earth with this Chalcedony."

"Wonderful! I love to travel, and Earth sounds so nice! I can't wait until we get going and I get to spend some time with my new best friend, have you seen her hair? It goes down to her butt!" Cat's Eye excitedly exclaimed. Lavender blushed and awkwardly stepped away from the other gem.

"My Diamond, please just shatter me." Lavender asked.

"You leave tomorrow." White Diamond said with finality. "That will be all."

The three gems were corralled out of the throne room by a blank-faced Pearl. Cat's Eye was chattering to Shadow Agate about how cool she looked as Lavender dragged behind, her mind swirling. The door shut behind them, echoing through the empty hall.

Lavender's knees gave out and she dropped to the floor, staring at her shaking hands.

"I- I-"

To her surprise, Shadow Agate sank down next to her, staring at the wall across from them. "It doesn't make sense…"

Cat's Eye plopped down next to them, humming to herself.

"Going… going to…"

"Our Diamond has lost her mind!"

"To Earth!?"

"Surely this is a mistake!?"

"I- I…"

Cat's Eye smiled at them and tilted her head, her messy sandy hair falling around her face, "What's wrong with Earth? That's where White Diamond's last Pearl went. I bet we'll have fun there, it's only a quick information mission."

Shadow Agate sat up suddenly, startling Lavender, "Of course! Clearly my Diamond is sending you there to simply get rid of you. No gem has ever returned from Earth. This is obviously a clean way for her to take out the trash."

"That's not nice to say." Cat's Eye replied, her gem flashing in the light of the hall. Her chin was tilted up to glare at the taller gem and Lavender felt a small shiver of fear run through her. Who knew such a tiny gem could look so threatening?

Shadow Agate snorted, "Yeah. Just don't be late for your departure tomorrow. I have to get things set up for your ship."

With that she left; abandoning Lavender to be alone with Cat's Eye. The orange gem was glaring at the Agate's retreating form, her eye twitching and her tongue running along her teeth. "I don't think I like her much."

There was a beat of silence, and then the Cat's Eye crumpled with a sigh, "What am I saying? She's still pretty cool. But that doesn't make her right. You're not trash!"

Lavender slowly pulled herself up to her feet, "Yes, well. Thank you? I'm going to go back to my quarters now. I believe I'll see you tomorrow…"

"Okay, cool! Where are your quarters? Do you live with other Chalcedonies? I live with lots of Chrysoberyls! We're all in this big room together, everyone there is so nice! And we help each other out and sometimes we get to play with the Amethists and one time-"

Lavender started to back away, her hands up in a loose defensive stance, "I'm leaving now."

"I'll come with you!" Cat's Eye perked up, jumping to her feet. She barely went up to Lavender's chest; that's not to say that Lavender was a particularly tall gem. Chrysoberyls just appeared to be short. Cat's Eye was bouncing on her feet in excitement and Lavender never considered herself to be a cruel gem. So, with a sigh, she nodded and allowed the other to follow her to her room.

The other soldiers in her department glared at her as she slipped by to her compartment. They made jokes about her new talking shadow and shot her dirty looks when she passed.

"How was she not shattered?"

"I bet it's because she looks like a Pearl."

"Our Diamond has always had a soft spot for Pearl-wannabes."

Lavender bit her lip as she slid into her bunk in the furthest corner of the room. Cat's Eye scrambled to get up on the bed with her; her small feet kicking at empty air as she pulled herself up. Lavender laid down, turning her back to the other gems in the room. She stared at the wall in silence. It only took a moment before she felt the squirming of a certain chubby gem worming herself between her and the wall. The Cat's Eye even went as far as to poke her head under Lavender's arm and placing her own small hand on Lavender's hip.

"W-what are you doing?" Lavender asked, attempting to scoot away.

Cat's Eye smiled and closed her eye, "It's bedtime, right?"

"Well, y-yeah, but-"

"I'm sleeping."

Lavender could only stare down at the gem curled up next to her. Sighing and dutifully ignoring the dark blush burning into her cheeks, Lavender allowed herself to fold around the small gem and be lulled to sleep. 

* * *

 

Morning was a hectic one. Lavender couldn't stop biting her lip and running her hands through her hair. Cat's Eye followed her around, complimenting her every two seconds, but it didn't do much to help her mood. Today she would be shipped off to Earth. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking at the thought of it.

"Are you ready?" Cat's Eye asked in excitement.

"Not at all." Lavender muttered as they stepped up to the ship garage. Behind these doors would be her new team; the gems she was going to die on Earth with. She wished White Diamond would just shatter them all; then they wouldn't waste a perfectly good ship.

Shadow Agate was standing there, her arms crossed, looking incredibly sour as she conversed with an Emerald. Cat's Eye immediately ran up to the green gem, holding her arms up to her and smiling wildly.

"Emerald! Emerald! I was with my new best friend Lavender Chalcedony and I saw all these big gems and we slept together and there was this-"

The Emerald barely paid her attention, offering noncommittal 'hmm's every so often. Instead she was still looking at Shadow Agate, who threw her hands up in the air.

"This is preposterous! What has the world come to?!" Shadow all but shouted.

Emerald blinked and replied curtly, "It is the demand of our Diamond. See to it unfolds."

Lavender slowly approached, willing herself to find the nerve to ask what was happening. Thankfully, she didn't have to, as Cat's Eye beat her to it.

"What's wrong Miss Agate?" The small gem asked.

Shadow rolled her eyes, snarling, "What are you, newly formed?"

Cat puffed out her chest proudly, "Nope. I was formed a few thousand years ago, so I know all about the world. Once, when I was playing with one of my friends, there was a big rock! And it was so-"

"You're going to be the leader of the platoon." Shadow interrupted.

"Oh my stars! Really?!" Cat asked, looking up to Emerald, who nodded in confirmation. "I've never been a leader before! This is so exciting! What do I say to my crew? Oh, I bet their going to be so lovely! I can't wait to meet them! Will you tell my friends that I get to lead a crew? They'll be so excited! I don't think a Chrysoberyl has ever been in charge before! I wonder if I'll do a good job, oh, well as long as I try my best I'll be okay-"

Lavender looked over to the Emerald, "I'm not sure if, um, she's ... _fit_ to lead a platoon to Earth?"

"She's not." Emerald replied, raising an eyebrow. "You are."

Lavender blinked rapidly, confusion falling on her face, "But you said-"

"Together."

Now Lavender was truly confused. She looked over to Shadow, who still was scowling furiously and then back at Emerald. "...What?"

Cat's Eye only appeared even _more_ excited at this realization, she threw her hands up in the air and shouted at the top of her lungs; "FUSION! YEAH, BABY!"

"O-oh!" Lavender's face burned suddenly at the explanation, "Oh, no, I can't, I don't- I've never, it's not- no-"

The Emerald held up a hand, silencing her, "Do you know what a Chrysoberyl is for, Chalcedony?"

"N-no. I've never met one before." Lavender answered, looking down at the giddy gem.

"Before this whole _fusion_ phase became popular-" she said the word with the most distaste Lavender had ever heard in two syllables. "Chrysoberyls were useless. But now, we've finally found their purpose."

At this, Cat turned to Lavender, a small blush on her cheeks, "Oh, wow, okay. We're going to do this, I'm so excited. So, um, you should probably know a bit about me first. My name is Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl Facet-3C8J Cut 7XS. I haven't really been out of my room much, but that's okay, because I'm super excited about seeing the world! Are you ready?"

"We're doing this now?" Lavender hissed, looking around the room. Various gems were mulling about, loading ships and checking engines. Anyone could see them. A cold sweat formed along Lavender's back."In public?"

Cat held out her hand and smiled, "Yeah! It'll be fun!"

Lavender's blush only darkened at the thought, "Are you insane!? Fusion isn't something you just, just _do_! You gotta, you know," she held out her hands in a helpless, vague gesture.

Shadow Agate rolls her eyes, "Just fucking do it already. As soon as you leave, I don't have to deal with you anymore."

Lavender swallowed hard, hesitantly taking Cat's Eye's hand. She gasped as their fingers brushed, and Cat gave her an encouraging smile. She stepped forward as Cat stepped back, their feet moving clumsily with each other. Lavender stumbled and almost fell on the other gem, but Cat caught her easily, swinging her around into a dip. It must have been a strange sight, such a small gem curling a tall one into her chest and grinning at her. Lavender swallowed as she felt the change begin.

She couldn't distinctly feel when she and Cat stopped being separate. She only knew that suddenly, she had memories that weren't hers, thoughts that she didn't think, and feelings that she didn't express. A new being came into existence as she opened her eyes and looked down at Shadow Agate. Never had she been this tall before. A deep voice, unfamiliar to her, came from her lips in words she didn't realize she was saying.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She said, holding out a hand to both commanding officers before her. Emerald nodded and shook it simply, already going over the mission objective. Shadow Agate scowled and crossed her arms.

"Likewise. Our Diamond has listed you as the commanding officer of this task force. Your job is to arrive at Earth and find the missing Jasper, Peridot and Rubies. Should you not find them, you must provide explicit proof to their destruction. You cannot return without a full report." Emerald stated almost robotically. "Any questions?"

Panic ran through Lavender at a moment, but was quickly comforted into nonexistence by the other being. She held up four thumbs as she said, "We got this."

"Excellent. Now, what shall I mark down in the paperwork as your name?" Emerald asked, creating a hologram before her, pulling up the information for their mission.

"I didn't think about that…" She mumbled to herself, looking down at her four purple hands. Blue stripes patterned up and down her arms, over her stomach and across her neck. Wild, flowing white hair engulfed her like a built-in cape. What would a Lavender Chalcedony and a Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl make? With a satisfied nod, the words fell from her lips, "Purple Tiger Eye, ma'am."

"Well, Purple Tiger Eye, go and meet your team." Emerald gestured to a lone ship with two gems climbing out of it. Purple Tiger Eye nodded her thanks and started towards the ship, head held high and gate steady.

She held out her hands again to shake with the Topaz and Aventurine. The Topaz glanced up and down Tiger's body, clearly sizing her up, Tiger did the same. She was a dark orange color, not too far off from Cat's Eye, and was almost as tall as Tiger herself. A muscle gem; clearly the assigned weapon of the group. Her gem was on her shoulder; and flickered in the light. When she went to shake her hand, she squeezed her hand as hard as she could; surprised when Tiger did the same.

"A fusion, eh?" Topaz asked, noting the two gems on her face.

"Indeed."

Topaz was grinning as she said, "Disgusting."

Tiger just snorted and replied, "In your eyes maybe. Mine, however, likes what it sees."

She turned to the Aventurine, who was gently shaking her hand, long slim fingers tracing over her large ones. The soft grey stood out nicely against her purple skin. "I will be your captain for this mission."

Aventurine looked up at her, a majority of her face hidden under a hood, and nodded. Tiger wasn't sure what to think of her; she was covered almost entirely by a white cloak, and what could be seen was cold to look couldn't even tell where her gem was.

"Aven already updated the coordinates, we're ready to go whenever you are, fusion." Topaz said, pointing to the ship behind her.

Tiger nodded, "Then let's get this show on the road." She slipped between the two gems and started up the steps into the ship. As she got to the top, she stopped and turned to look back at Topaz, "And my name is Purple Tiger Eye. You should learn it."

With that, she ducked inside.

* * *

Some centuries ago...

"I don't understand, my Diamond. Why would you keep so many Chrysoberyls?" Emerald asked, standing in the center of a hoard of the gems. Each one was trying to get her attention, reaching up to her, and shouting. "They don't serve any purpose."

"Emerald!"

"I like your face, miss Emerald!"

"Hello!"

The Diamond was, surprisingly, sitting down and allowing the chubby gems to crawl all over her. Her Pearl, sitting next to her, was allowing the gems to brush her hair and chatter about how beautiful she is. Emerald doubts anyone has shown such attention to a Pearl before. Diamond lowered her hand to allow a dozen or so Chrysoberyls to climb on. She lifted them close to her face and smiled softly as they waved up to her.

"Diamond! Diamond! Hi!"

"Hi, Diamond!"

Emerald could hear her Diamond's voice over the endless chatter easily as she simply stated, "They bring me great enjoyment."

This brought out a large chorus of "I enjoy you, too!" from the Chrysoberyls. Emerald carefully stepped over one, trying her best to not step on any of their toes. They followed her as she went, complementing her the entire time.

"But, my Diamond, I don't see why you need so many?" Emerald asked gently. "Surely only one or two is necessary? And why not put them to good use?"

"Oh, but I am." White Diamond said, lowering her hand so the Chrysoberyls could depart. "Tell me, Emerald, what do you think is a Chrysoberyl's skill?"

"Being annoying?" Emerald muttered as she almost tripped over one.

"Being _encouraging_." Diamond corrected. "A gem can find great strength in themself when a Chrysoberyl is around."

Emerald didn't believe her at first. But as time went by, it wasn't uncommon to find the superior gem sitting cross legged in the Chrysoberyl's room, smiling softly at their antics. White Diamond wasn't surprised when she received a note from the gem, apologizing for doubting her.


	2. Children, please...

The door slid silently behind them as they climbed aboard the ship. Efficient with only four seats total: three facing the large command board that lined the walls, and one elevated seat in the center, to watch over everything. Aventurine strode - like a phantom - to the driving seat; right in front of the captain's chair. She didn't say anything as her grey fingers ghosted over the various buttons.

"That, would be your seat, fusion." Topaz sneered, gesturing to the large chair in the center.

"Truly?" Tiger's eye widened in mock surprise, "I couldn't tell!"

Topaz crossed her arms, "Oh, aren't you _funny_."

"I'm hilarious." Tiger stuck out her tongue and strolled to the captain's chair, flopping into it. Topaz growled furiously running her hands through her hair.

"Why would our Diamond make a _fusion_ command us?" Topaz hissed furiously, turning to Aventurine for help, who ignored her. Pouting, Topaz turned back to Tiger. The two stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, Topaz tilted her chin up and asked, "How many battles have you fought in?"

"None." Tiger picked at her nails and scratched at her stomach.

"You ever lead a mission before?" Topaz squinted.

"Nope." She popped the 'p' and shot Topaz a challenging gaze.

Topaz threw her hands up in the air, "Then why would she choose you?!"

"Because she knows what I can do." Tiger said simply, flicking a clip of nail at her.

The air between them was electrified with fury as Topaz stepped forward, her hands clasped into fists, her teeth bared, she hissed, "And what would that be?"

Tiger sat up straight, looking down to Topaz, a large grin spread across her face, "Dunno."

Growling, Topaz turned to Aventurine, "Do you believe this?!"

The other gem flicked her wrist in nonchalance, still focused on the buttons before her. Topaz scowled back at Tiger, "Not only are you a fusion, but you're a _newly formed_ fusion!"

"Yup." Tiger stretched two arms over her head and kicked her legs out, "And I'm lovin' being me."

"Well congratulations." Topaz's lip curled up in disgust, "But don't you dare think I'm going to take orders from you."

A shiver ran through Tiger's spine. The air around her dropped twenty degrees. Her arms slowly lowered themselves, her fists gripping her biceps. Goosebumps formed up and down each arm. Her lower lip found its way between her teeth. Her voice cracked as she whispered, "Wait… what?"  
Topaz locked eyes with her, her voice low with an edge of a growl on it, "You. Aren't. My. Captain."

Despite the calm voice soothing reassurances in her mind, Tiger Eye couldn't ignore the gripping panic that tore through her heart; literally ripping her apart. The fission happened faster than Tiger could've expected, and then she wasn't Tiger anymore. While fusion is a process of trust and acceptance, fission, at least, in this case, is one of rejection and pain. She was cold, fading and then, finally, she was gone. In her place, two gems tumbled out of the light. Cat's Eye flopped off the chair, landing on the ground with a soft 'oof'. Lavender was shaking so bad, she couldn't see straight. Her mouth turned dry and her eyes grew wet. Her eyes snapped up as she heard Topaz talk.

"A Chrysoberyl!?"

Cat sat up on and waved excitedly, "Hi!"

"Any gem that needs a Chrysoberyl doesn't deserve to be a leader. You don't give a trophy to last place." Topaz said, stepping over Cat to hover over Lavender. "This isn't a petty gemball game; this is war!"

Lavender flinched and curled in on herself to protect her gem, "You're right, I'm sorry, you're right!"

Cat's Eye sprang up suddenly, her gem glowing; "Hey! Leave my best friend alone!"

The small gem ran up behind Topaz and started pounding her small fists on Topaz's thigh. Topaz grinned in amusement at how weak the other gem was.

"Oh, give it a rest, pipsqueak. It's not like I'm lying; she agrees with me." Topaz gestured to Lavender's shaking form.

Lavender was mumbling to herself, her voice a small whimper, "I told our Diamond I couldn't do this, I told her!"

"Ave, turn this ship around! I'm not getting shattered because of these two's incompetence!" Topaz yelled to the quiet gem. Aventurine just tilted her head slowly and stared at Topaz until she turned around.

"Stop yelling!" Cat yelled, still punching the other gem. "You're making everyone sad!"

"Why I otta crack you right now." Topaz muttered, kicking Cat's Eye away from her. The small gem tumbled across the floor and crashed into the wall.

That must've not been satisfying enough for the warrior, because then she pulled out a large battle ax from her gem. Cat summoned her own weapon - a sledgehammer with a white diamond logo on the side - before she even got to her feet. Topaz swung her ax toward Cat, surprised when the small being rolled out of the way. The sound of metal scraping against metal filled the air as Topaz's ax scraped against the wall. Cat raised her mallet as high as she could, standing on her tippy toes, before she slammed it to the ground. The vibrations caused Topaz to lose her balance and she stumbled against the wall. Turning around, her eyes glinting with fire and hatred, Topaz pushed off the wall to approach the other. Cat squeaked, stepping back slightly, but determinedly raising her weapon.

"Stop!" Lavender thought the cry came from her mouth, but it was far too authoritative. She looked over to see Aventurine, who had stood up and raised her hands before her. The two fighting gems were flung apart from each other; each now held against separate walls. Aventurine stepped slowly toward the crater in the floor that Cat had made. As she did so, the ship rebuilt itself, and Lavender had the distinct feeling that the grey gem was the cause of it.

"S-sorry, Ave." Topaz mumbled, sounding just a bit ashamed.

Cat was struggling against her hold, kicking her feet wildly.

Lavender watched as Aventurine walked over the newly-repaired ground and up to Topaz. The other gem gulped as Aventurine said slowly, "Must you antagonize our captain?"

"But, it's a fusion…" Topaz tried to explain, but was cut off as Aventurine dropped her to the floor. Cat also fell to the ground, landing as a large fluff of yellow hair. The grey gem slipped back to her seat and pressed a few buttons. The sounds of engines starting up and machinery clicking into place made Lavender realize something.

"You never started the ship."

Aventurine tilted her chin up, a small smile gracing her lips.

"We haven't even left Homeworld yet." Lavender could now see the other ships in the garage around them and various gems walking around as if nothing was wrong.

"Indeed." Aventurine said, settling in for a long ride, "So, children, please behave."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is short.  
> Tell me what you think!


	3. Well, This Was Pointless

Lavender slowly slid off the captain's chair, not feeling like she deserved the title anymore. She hesitated, her steps unsure as she let herself fall into one of the crew chairs. Topaz begrudgingly sat down opposite of her, leaving Cat to waddle to the captain's chair.

"Okay! Go!" Cat commanded once she was situated, pointing a chubby finger to the wide expanse of space before them. Aventurine expertly took off the ship, leading them away from Homeland and into the dark abyss before them. Lavender sat quietly with her hands in her lap as she watched the stars in the distance twinkle. Topaz tapped her fingers irritatedly, flicking some ginger hair out of her face as she did so.

"So, boss." Topaz said slowly, "where we headed?"

"Earth!" Cat replied, smiling broadly.

Topaz didn't bother a response, instead looking to Aventurine. It took a moment for the grey gem to reply. But soon, her far-off voice echoed around the ship, "The human zoo."

Lavender wished to ask why they were headed that way, but the words were stuck in her throat. Clearly, everyone else already knew why they were headed there and it made no difference whether she knew or not it wasn't like she was the leader right now and anyway it-

"Why?" Topaz asked. Lavender wondered how she did that so easily.

"I've taken into consideration the lackluster abilities of our squadron and decided it be best if we had an idea with what we're dealing with." Aventurine replied simply.

Topaz growled, "Who you callin' lackluster, Ave? I happen to be the only one on this ship that knows what they're doing."

Aventurine looked over at Topaz. Lavender couldn't see her expression, but it made the muscle gem's jaw clack shut and forced her to look away. Cat giggled as Topaz mumbled, "'Side from you, of course."

Lavender piped up softly, "Did you two know each other before?" All eyes turned to her, and she quickly explained herself, "I-it's just that you seem to have history- that's all, I didn't mean- it's just- you couldn't have just met, well, maybe you have, I don't know-"

Topaz grew quiet, her eyes a bit distant, "We were, uh, created in the same place. That's all."

Aventurine turned back to the windshield, her hands hovering over the controls. Lavender noticed her fingers were shaking, "Entering lightspeed."

Cat's Eye was trying to lick her elbow as Aventurine pulled the ship to a stop just outside the human zoo. The small gem blinked rapidly as the engines quieted. "Keep goin'! We're on the outside!"

"I have to request entry." Aventurine replied, "They updated the security measures, apparently. We have to call in."

Cat's Eye sat up, nodding seriously, "Yeah, do that."

"I...can't." Aventurine looked over to Topaz, whose shoulders sank slightly.

Cat's Eye jumped down from the too-big captain's chair and ran up to the control panels. "I'll do it!"

Aventurine grabbed her before she could press any of the buttons. Cat didn't seem too upset about now being in Ave's lap, smiling over to Lavender happily. Topaz walked up next to them, and nodded to the grey gem, activating the video call.

"What is it?" An Agate replied, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"White Diamond Left Quadrant Scout Ship, requesting landing." Topaz said, squaring her shoulders and tipping her chin up.

"On what grounds?"

"For necessary research and protocol pre-mission analysis."

"What's the name of your mission?"

"Earth-bound J814 Beta."

The Agate was quiet a moment while she looked up their information. Topaz smirked to Aventurine, giving her a thumbs up. She quickly feel back into proper formation when Agate spoke up.

"Do I look like an idiot?" The blue gem asked through the screen.

Topaz frowned, "Uh, no?"

"You're a Topaz."

"Yes."

"The leader of this mission is marked down as a Tiger Eye."

Topaz shot Aventurine a panicked look, "Yeah, uh-"

"Only mission captains can request landings." Agate replied, crossing her arms, "what is the meaning of this?"

Cat scrambled off of Aventurine's lap, Lavender jumped to her feet. Aventurine was fidgeting and there was a strange staticy noise.

Topaz licked her lips, sweat forming on the back of her neck, "Uh, well, Tiger Eye isn't available at the moment. See, she, uh-"

"I'm right here." Purple Tiger Eye stepped up to Topaz's side. The fusion was the fastest one they had ever done, which, didn't mean much considering how few times they'd fused. But, still, it was fast enough to not cause too much suspicion. "I just figured, why bother with a silly rule like that, when I have a Topaz to do my work for me, you understand."

Agate nodded, "Of course. We've just had a recent break in from, well, that's no matter. The door is open."

The video cut off and Topaz pushed her away, "Oh, I'm just a Topaz now, aren't I?!"

"Oh, you know how those snotty upper class gems are. What did you want me to say? Sorry, I just wasn't in existence at the moment, lemme just fuse together?!"

"You could have picked any excuse in the universe and you pick the most classist- ugh!" Topaz was pacing now, fury clear on her face. "You aren't the boss of me!"

Tiger held up her four hands defensively, "I never said I was! You're blowing this out of proportion!"

The engines shut off as Aventurine landed the ship. She placed a hand on Topaz's shoulder, "Not now. Let's go."

Topaz huffed, but followed her out the door, throwing a glare over her shoulder. Tiger Eye sighed, running two hands through her long white hair, "She's never going to like us."

Her two other arms wrapped around her waist, "Nah, she'll love us eventually. She just doesn't know us yet."

"I don't even know us yet!"

Topaz's voice shouted from outside, "Let's go, your majesty!"

With a sigh, Tiger stepped out of the ship and onto the landing platform. Two Amethysts were standing guard at the door. The room was large, pink, and thankfully empty. Aventurine led the way to the Amethysts.

"State your purpose." One of the Amethysts said.

"We'd like to observe the humans." Aventurine said.

The second Amethysts tilted her head, "Uh, why?"

"We have a mission to Earth." Tiger replied, crossing two of her arms and looking down at the Amethysts, "We'd like to know what we're up against."

"New protocol says that you'll have to have two guards with you. Ya get to wait here with us until they come." The first Amethyst says.

Aventurine nods, "That won't be a problem."

"So, uh, why are you fused?" Amethyst Two asks Tiger, looking slightly nervous.

"I was ordered to by my diamond." Tiger said simply, then, with a growing smile, she leaned forward, putting a hand against the wall behind the Amethyst. Another hand trailed over the Amethyst's hair while another brushed a thumb against her lower lip, and the last grabbed the guard's hand. "And I like it, don't you?"

"I-I- what?" The Amethyst sputtered while the other one laughed at her.

"There's something exciting about being with another gem in this way." Tiger drawled, brushing her tongue along her lips. "I think you'd enjoy it, if you want to join us."

"Y-you, with me?" The Amethyst asked, pointing at herself dumbly.

Tiger grinned, "Of course, you're plenty cute enough."

"Tiger. Enough." Aventurine spoke and Tiger pulled herself away slowly, her fingers brushing across Amethyst's skin as she did so. She smiled at the visible shiver that went down Amethyst's spine. "Our guards have arrived."

As they walked into down the hall, Tiger looked back at the Amethysts. Amethyst Two was brushing her fingers against her lips, watching her walk away. Tiger winked at her with her one eye, and the Amethyst blushed furiously. Amethyst One was laughing her gem off; doubled over, gasping for air.

"Y-you with m-me?!" Amethyst One mimicked, laughing as she did so.

"S-shut up!" Amethyst Two kicked her and as the door was closing Tiger could see the beginning of a fight. She snickered to herself, turning back to her group.

"What the fuck did I just witness?" Topaz said.

Tiger blinked innocently, "What do you mean?"

"You just- with the Amethyst-" The gem threw her arms in the air, gesturing wildly. Tiger smiled down at her, amused. She stepped past her, leading the way deeper into the building. If she let her hips sway with each step, no one would call her out on it. The one guard stayed pace with her, while the other walked behind the group, making sure everyone was accounted for.

The guard in front was a Jasper that was just about as thin as Lavender was. She turned and walked backwards to address Aventurine, "So, what do you want to know about the humans?"

"How strong are they?" Topaz asked.

Skinny shrugged, "Not very. A Pearl could probably beat them, easy. They don't have weapons. Well, ours don't."

They were led to a large window that looked down into an enclosure that had small creatures lazing around in it. They came in all shapes and sizes, much like gems, but they seemed to be less interesting in every way, shape, and form. Regardless, Tiger pressed her face against the glass, trying to get a better look. Topaz rolled her eyes at her as she did so.

"Ours never fight, so I doubt they even know how to. Honestly, the humans won't be an issue for you when you're on Earth. They're pretty useless." Skinny told them, looking down at the captive primates.

Topaz turned to Aventurine, "So then, what could be stopping all our troops from sending reports, or coming back, or whatever?"

The squadron missed the way Skinny and the Amethyst guard exchanged knowing smirks. Aventurine brought a hand up to her face, dipping under her cloak and disappearing from sight. "It must be something other than the earthlings that hinders our troops."

"You think it got something to do with the Cluster?" Topaz asked, "Like, maybe everyone is waiting for it to finish."

"That makes no sense. When the Cluster has formed, it will destroy Earth. Why would you stay on a planet that you know will vanish?" Aventurine stated.

Topaz snorted, "Well, they were Rubies. Maybe they got lost."

Tiger shot her a glare that was brushed off without response, "Perhaps. But what about the Jasper and Peridot?"

"A Peridot should definitely be able to get a ship from Point A to Point B, but the Jasper might have-" Topaz cut herself off, glancing at Skinny, who raised an expectant eyebrow, "...run into trouble, with whatever had attacked the other gems."

Aventurine turned to the guards, "You are from Earth, are you not?"

"Yeah." The Amethyst said.

"Our Kindergartens were there." Skinny added. "But it's been centuries since we were there; things have changed."

Purple Tiger Eye spoke up then, pointing into the cage, "Can we talk to them? The humans?"

"Nope." Skinny said, "Sorry, we limit their gem contact as much as possible. Keeps them innocent."

"Besides, you wouldn't get any information from them, they haven't ever been out of that room." The Amethyst shrugged. "Not much help describing a place you've never known."

Topaz crossed her arms, glaring at her reflection in the glass, "So this little pitstop was useless."

"Not entirely." Aventurine corrected. "I have a feeling that we should be prepared not for the human inhabitants of the planet, but something… else."

"Like what?" Tiger asked.

There was a pause, and then Aventurine shrugged, "No idea."

"Welp. I'm ready to leave." Topaz said, running a hand over her face. "Give the word, and we can go."

Tiger looked at Aventurine. Aventurine looked at Tiger.

"She means you." They said at the same time.

"Diamonds!" Topaz threw her hands in the air, "Either of you, I don't care! Let's just leave!"

Tiger nodded, "Yes, well, no point in prolonging this adventure any further. We should carry on to Earth now. We can stop at the planet's moon base to give an official report to our Diamond and then we can carry on. Miss Jasper and Miss Amethyst, would you be so kind as to lead us back to our ship?"

"Yeah… sure." Skinny was glancing between Aventurine and Tiger, before slowly turning around, "This way."

Tiger winked at the Amethyst guard she flirted with, who blushed and looked away while the other guard giggled. Topaz growled and muttered under her breath about the impurity of fusions. Aventurine had the ship started and ready for take off before the other two had even got to their seats yet. Tiger sat in the captain's chair, her chin resting in two hands while the other two rapidly tapped her fingers on her thigh.

Looking into the distance, Tiger asked, "If it's not humans that we should worry about, then what would it be?"

Topaz sneered, "Maybe it's gems like you."

"What do you have against me?"

"Other than your blatant classism?"

"Your fucking hypocritical, you know that?"

"Excuse me!?"

"I saw how you looked at those guards! They're even in your class, and you still-"

Aventurine turned and silenced them with just a flick of her hand. "If you two don't mind, I would like some quiet to think of our situation."

Topaz scowled and sighed, "Sorry, Ave."

"Yes, of course. If you come up with anything, let me know." Tiger replied, sounding as authoritative as she could while still glaring at the muscle gem.

Aventurine briefly wondered what she did to upset her Diamond so much to be put on this mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!


	4. One Giant Leap for Gemkind

The team sat in silence as Aventurine drove th em towards their next destination: Earth’s satellite. From there they will send in an updated mission report to their Diamond and inform Homeworld that they are going to be heading into the dangerous, unknown territory that is the Earth. 

Tiger glanced at Topaz, having to turn her head so her eye could see her. The gem was sitting, her arms crossed, staring out the window with a scowl on. Tiger sighed as she turned to look at Aventurine, wondering not for the first time what was under that white hood of hers. Isn’t it strange that Tiger was leading a troop that she either didn’t get along with or didn’t know anything about? Aventurine worked well enough, seeming to keep the calm of the group; but Tiger still felt a shiver run down her spine when she felt those hidden eyes on her.

“Approaching mission base.” Aventurine announced softly.

Topaz sat up, looking towards the north. She let out a low whistle. “Look at all those colors.”

“Why’s the Earth blue?” Tiger asked, leaning forward in her chair.

Aventurine wasn’t look at the planet, as she directed the course to the small satellite orbiting it. “That would be called ‘water’. It covers most of the planet’s surface.”

Topaz grinned, “Rockin’.”

* * *

 

The team moved their way into the temple quickly as Aventurine explained to them, “The Earthlings have named this satellite ‘the moon’. They have looked up to it for many centuries, our records report.”

“I like it.” Tiger commented as she passed a large mural of her diamond on the wall. The other three diamonds were also represented on this base, and Tiger took her time to admire each one of them.

Aventurine was kneeling on the floor a few feet away. Topaz standing next to her, her hands on her hips. “Hey, Ave? Whatcha doin’?”

“This.” Aventurine replied as she spread her hands and segregated pieces of the floor rose up to form stairs leading to the next level. Topaz grinned and ran ahead of them, racing to the top.

“What would we do without you?” Tiger asked as she walked up. She raised her hand to place it on Aventurine’s shoulder good naturedly, but other gem shifted away from her.

“I suppose you would never make it off Homeworld and would, in fact, be harvested.” Aventurine stated as she started up the stairs.

Tiger’s hand hovered in the air. She blinked rapidly, “Uh, yeah. Thanks for that.”

“Hey, guys?” Topaz called from up above, “Is the communicator supposed to be smashed to shreds?”

“What?” Aventurine and Tiger said simultaneously. Purple Tiger Eye, without thinking, lifted Aventurine into her arms and ran up the stairs.

“U-unhand me!” Aventurine shouted. Tiger looked down at her to see the other gem covering her face with her hands, almost hiding against Tiger’s chest. “How dare you-”

“Sorry, sorry.” Tiger said, gently setting the smaller gem down once she reached the top of the stairs. Topaz’s eyes were wide with fury, but she didn’t get the chance to say anything, as Aventurine took in the damage.

“My Diamonds…” Aventurine gasped, slowly ghosting up the stairs to a raised platform. At the top was a large chair right in front of a crumbled pile of crystallized mechanics. “What could have done this?”

“I couldn’t find the communicator.” Topaz called up to her, still shooting her leader a dark look. “It was taken.”

Aventurine raised her hands; Tiger watched in amazement as she lifted all the shattered pieces and placed them together like a puzzle. What used to be stood before them, unable to be used, but cleaned up enough to see the missing hole where the communicator would’ve been.

“How will we report in now?” Topaz asked. “Our ship can’t send a signal all the way back to Homeworld.”

“Could it reach to another colony, and they could relay the message back to our diamond?” Tiger asked.

Aventurine sighed, “If only there was another colony near here.” She dropped her hands and the control panel fell apart once more. “Earth is a part of a secluded sector of this galaxy. Safe from other forces, hidden, almost. That’s why it was given to Pink Diamond as her first colony. A different planet would include fighting other beings for the territory.”

“What do we do now?” Topaz asked. Aventurine turned to look at Tiger, and after a second of reluctance, Topaz followed her lead.

Tiger thought for a moment and then said decidedly, “We keep moving forward. Continue our mission; we land on Earth.”

“But what if we get attacked? And we need backup? Homeworld will have no idea and then we’ll all be cracked!” Topaz said, her voice rising in emotion.

“Aren’t you a warrior?” Tiger asked, “We’ll be fine. Just be on your guard and watch each other’s gems. Okay? We’re a team; if one of us is in trouble, we’re all in trouble.”

Topaz swallowed hard, but nodded. Aventurine walked up to her and laced a hand on her back, leaning forward to whisper in her ear. Tiger couldn’t hear what was said, but it made Topaz’s shoulders relax.

“Let’s head out. Aventurine, please locate the area with most consistent gem activity on the Earth.” Tiger instructed, leading the way back down the stairs. She could hear the other two gems following behind her slowly. Tiger let out a breath she’s been holding.

_ We are so cracked. _

* * *

 

Back in the ship, Aventurine was analyzing the data of the detection of gem activity on earth. Meanwhile, Topaz was sitting, rigid in her chair, completely silent.

“Are you okay?” Tiger whispered, walking up to her.

“Fine.” Topaz hissed.

“You don’t look fine.” Tiger muttered.

“I don’t like running into fights blind. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

Tiger sighed, “I know it’s going to be hard. But that’s what a team is for. If one of us gets poofed then the others will be there to protect her.”

Something about what she said only made Topaz more anxious, “Just shut up! I don’t need you to  _ comfort me! _ I don’t need you at all! Go sit on your stupid throne and play pretend,  _ fusion! _ ”

Tiger scowled down at her, “I was only trying to help.”

“Well, I don’t want it!” Topaz snapped, growling in fury.

The bigger gem crossed her four arms, “Are all Topazes like you?”

Topaz’s eyes flew wide in shock, Tiger could see the exact moment when she decided ‘fuck it’, and she launched herself at the fusion. They were thrown backwards by the force; tumbling to the ground. Topaz was clawing at her, tears forming in her eyes.

“Shut up! You don’t know what your talking about! You’re just a pesky brat that got a free pass because she’s pretty! You shouldn't be here! You should’ve been shattered!”

Tiger’s heart almost stopped, “Don’t you dare take this out on her, you- you big meanie!”

Her hands were shaking now as she held Topaz above her, “No, you’re right. I should’ve shattered, I’m just-”

“I’ve never hated anyone before, but you would be the first! How could you make me- her- feel this way!?”

“It would be better if I was never formed. Shadow Agate is right; I am a waste of minerals.”

Topaz blinked down at her, “What the hell am I watching?”

Tiger started to dissipate, her body undertaking fission as Lavender tried to escape this situation. With no hands to hold her up, Topaz fell to the floor, with Cat’s Eye under her. Lavender scooted up against the wall, resting her head on her knees. Cat tried to squirm out from under Topaz, shouting the entire time, “Lookit! Lookit you did! Why are you so mean? Who hurt you!?”

“Oh, shut up.” Topaz muttered, looking over at Lavender with thoughtful eyes. Slowly, the muscle gem sat up and scratched at her ginger hair.

Aventurine turned to look at the mess that was her crewmates. “I have the locations. The main one appears to be a civilization entitled ‘Beach City’ in A Mer of Ca.”

Cat gasped in excitement, her attention caught, “Great! Leggo!”

With no one watching Cat, the child was able to run up to the control panel and smash the ‘go’ buttons. Repeatedly.

“No! Not that one!” Aventurine said too late. The ship groaned, a red flashing light and an alarm alerting everyone of what Cat had done. No one could react, there was no time. The ship shot off the moon towards the earth. They only had a moment to look at each other before the ship burst apart in the heat.

Lavender was screaming as she hurtled into the atmosphere at a fifty miles per second. She could see Aventurine and Cat falling in opposite directions. She could hear screaming to her left, and looked to see Topaz next to her, fear in her eyes. Lavender sucked in a breath - as well as she could as the wind slashed at her skin - and grabbed Topaz by the arm and pulled her close. Instinctually, Topaz’s arms wrapped around her and they fell together, intertwined. Lavender hid her gem in the crevice of Topaz’s neck, and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, effectively covering Topaz’s gem.

The wind was so loud and all she could hear was Topaz’s choked off breaths and her own heartbeat in her ears. Everything was loud and bright and painful - until it all cut to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!


	5. We Are The Homeworld Gems

Cat's Eye

It was scary to fall from the sky. Why do ships break when you go to a new planet? That doesn't sound really smart to Cat. But Miss Aventurine said no when she pushed the button. So maybe it was Cat's fault that she fell on the floor. She didn't know. Her head hurt.

Cat slowly sat up, looking around. She was wet from head to toe, apparently landing in the 'water' that Aventurine mentioned and was swept to shore. Now she sat in the sand, watching as the water lapped at her toes.

She's really really really super lucky. Her gem wasn't hurt at all! The others would be so proud of her! Turning to talk to them, she realized that there was no one else around.

"Hello?" She asked, looking out towards the water and then to the land. There wasn't a single gem in sight. Cat's Eye, for the first time in her life, was alone.

* * *

Aventurine

She should have predicted this. Honestly, how did she not notice that Cat's Eye was next to the control panel? Cold, wet, and angry, Aventurine stalked through a jungle. She hand landed in a large vegetation that broke her fall, but it was growing out of disgusting murky water. She's been treading through it for the past hour trying to see where she was and how close it is to the nearest warp pad. It was clear to her from the beginning that the team was separated. Logically, they would've all ended up in the same hemisphere, perhaps the same facet of the Earth. So Aventurine wasn't too worried about finding them again.

Hopefully the previous gems that were sent here were okay, hand the technology necessary to track down her squadron, and were willing to help. Aventurine was placing all of her hope in that.

* * *

Topaz

"Oh, Diamond! Oh, Diamond! Oh, Diamond!" Topaz was hissing, "Please wake up, please, come on!"

Lavender had taken the brunt of the fall, and since she's a smaller gem, that wasn't very, uh, you know, _good._ Her gem was fine, it wasn't cracked or anything, but she wasn't waking up and it's starting to really freak Topaz out.

"Great, this is just great." Topaz muttered, looking around. They were in a sandy area, hills of the stuff rolling into the distance as far as she could see. Columns of some sort of sandstone were sprouted every so often. There was nowhere to hide; nowhere to stash Lavender. If something came along, they'd be defenseless.

Topaz stood up and kicked some sand, growling in frustration, "Damn it!"

She found the tallest stand hill near her and ran up it. From the top, she could see more of the nothingness that surrounded her. Sand, sand, everywhere, and not a gem to see. Well, except the one that was lying cosmotos below her.

Topaz cupped her hands around her mouth, took a deep breath, and shouted, "AVENTURINE!"

The echo of her voice was her only reply. Topaz's shoulders slumped, she groaned to herself as she slowly made her way back down the sand hill. Halfway down, she stopped, at the sound of a growl in the distance. Angry, and animalistic.

"Shit." Topaz hissed. She sprinted the rest of the way down and slid to a stop next to Lavender. "Alright, cutecut, it's time to go."

She heaved the smaller gem up into her arms and picked the opposite direction that the animal's call came from. Gritting her jaw, she started running, holding Lavender close to her chest.

* * *

Cat's Eye

There were lights, and laughter coming from further down the beach. Slowly, Cat's Eye made her way towards it. Because laughter means fun. And fun is good.

Three humans stood in the water, splashing each other. Cat Eye watched them. One of them was darker than the other two. And another was a lot lighter. They must be different types of humans. Cat wondered what their gems looked like.

The lighter human fell into the darker human's arms and the other human joined them. They were all laughing, and they crashed into the waves. Something suddenly changed as they were all sitting on top of each other, catching their breaths. They all got very quiet suddenly. And then they were leaning into each other; their hands were roaming each other's bodies slowly. They were all tilting their heads in weird ways and touching their mouths together. Cat was really confused.

"Are you trying to fuse?" Cat eventually asked.

They jumped in surprise, scrambling away from each other. When they realized it was just Cat, they all relaxed slightly, glancing around. Cat stepped up to the water's edge, tilting her head at them.

"Cuz you're doin' it wrong." Cat explained gently. People sometimes need help doing stuff right. That's okay. Cat was happy to help.

* * *

Aventurine

Surprisingly, Aventurine pushed through a large bush and found herself on the edge of a human colony. The civilization was rudimentary at best; it's buildings barely two stories high. Small humans ran up and down the front of one of the buildings, kicking a spherical rock around. How queer. What sort of training is this?

Aventurine watched as the children that were able to kick the rock between two trees were claimed victorious. Those who had failed now had to attempt to kick the rock in between the trees. They continued this pointless practice over and over until, eventually, they all sat down in the middle of the small area, laughing. Most of the children took that moment to leave; spreading out to their various claimed buildings, leaving only one child laying in the grass. Now seemed like the most tactical moment to approach.

"I would like to speak to you now." Aventurine said when she got close enough.

The child, a male, turned and looked at her, "Uh… okay?"

"I have lost my squadron. The people that could help me are possibly at a location known to you as 'Beach City', in Amer-In-the-Ca." Aventurine spoke slowly, so the child could understand the seriousness of this situation. "I fear they may be in trouble."

The boy stared at her for a long moment, finally, he spoke, "Are you like, a nun or something?"

Aventurine's head tilted slightly to the left in confusion, "I don't understand what you're asking of me."

"Why are you wearing a white cloak?" The boy asked, gesturing to robe. "And how come it covers all of you? Is it too big?"

Aventurine looked down at the sleeves that covered well past her fingertips. "No, it is sufficient size."

"I thought nuns wore black cloaks." The boy continued, "Are you a reverse-nun?"

"White is the color of my diamond. I am to represent her to the best of my abilities." Aventurine slowly sat down in the grass next to him, "Do humans have a perfect leader of which they lay down their lives for?"

The boy thought for a long moment and then said, "My dad said he'd die if the Gators lost the game on friday."

Aventurine nodded, "This game, is it a competition between classes? Do the losers become vanquished for their inability to perform?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Fascinating." Aventurine said, pressing her hands together, "Tell me more."

* * *

Lavender

Her head was pounding in a way that would take to long to describe; almost rhythmically, but not quiet. She groaned as her body ached and her gem felt sore. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, and then immediately shut again at the bright light of the world. She tucked her face into a soft warmth, hiding from everything around her.

"Hey, you wakin' up?" A voice rumbled near her ear. She could feel the vibrations of the vocal chords against her cheek.

"Hmm." Lavender hummed in reply.

There was a soft snort at that, and then she was being moved, shifted. It was then that Lavender realized that she wasn't on the ground. Her eyes flew open, the only thing she could see was Topaz's dark blue eyes looking back at her.

"Oh my stars! I am so sorry!" Lavender started squirming, attempting to get out of the other's grasp.

Topaz only held her tighter, "Should've apologized twelve miles ago. It's not exactly fun carrying you around."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I just-" Guilt swirled in Lavender's gut as she realized how slow and tiresome of a journey that must have been.

Topaz rolled her eyes, "Relax, it's not your fault. I'm just glad you didn't poof."

Lavender froze, "What?"

"Yeah." Topaz was looking at Lavender's gem now, she gently rubbed her thumb against it; her large hand cupping the side of Lavender's head. "I don't know what I would've done if you were hurt."

Instead of replying to that, Lavender fought down a blush and asked, "Where are the others?"

The larger gem shrugged, which was strange considering Lavender was still in her arms, "We got separated in the fall. I've been looking for them all day."

Lavender bit her lip and looked down at the sandy ground, "You can put me down now."

"Oh, yeah." Topaz said, gently lowering her down. But before they could take a moment to relax, there was a ferocious yowl from somewhere behind them. Topaz immediately scooped Lavender back up and started to run, "Sorry, pipsqueak, but I doubt you can keep up with me."

"No, this is …. Fine." Lavender mumbled, a bit breathless.

* * *

Cat's Eye

"Are you one of Steven's friends?" The dark one asked. "A, uh, Crystal Gem?"

Cat's Eye's eye lit up, "Yeah, Imma gem! My name's Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl Facet-3C8J Cut 7XS and this is my first mission!"

"Rad." The lightest one said. "I'm Sour Cream."

"Buck." The middle one added.

"And I'm Jenny." The darkest one finished, "And we weren't fusing, exactly."

"That could come later," Buck said, causing the other two to snicker and blush.

Cat blinked, confused. "Oh. Then, what were you doing?"

Jenny knelt down so she was face to face with the small gem, "Let's see, uh, have you ever liked someone?"

"Yeah! All the time!" Cat said, bouncing on her feet, "I like you a lot, too! You're real pretty!"

"Oh!" Jenny smiled, pressing her hands to her cheeks. "That's so sweet!"

"We could have told you that." Sour Cream said, looking down at her. Buck nodded in agreement.

"Then why didn't you?" Jenny asked. At the boys' stunned silence, she hummed, "Exactly." Turning back to Cat, she said, "You're really cute, too. Oh, what are you doing all the way out here?"

Cat looked around, drawing her hands close to her tummy. She started fiddling with her brown shirt, "I dunno. I lost my friends..."

Jenny gasped and looked up at the boys, "We gotta bring her back to Steven! He's probably worried sick!"

"Sure."

"Yeah, man."

Jenny pulled Cat into her arms and stood up, "Come here, sweetie, we'll take ya home."

Cat's Eye blinked up at her, "You know where home is? Can I talk to them? I gotta tell them all about the trip here. An about the moon. And about the ship. And- and about, um, something else, I think."

The human laughed, "Yeah, don't worry. You can tell them all about it when we get there."

* * *

Aventurine

There were few things in the universe that bothered Aventurine, but not knowing what the purpose of something was is definitely one of them. Perhaps that was why she stayed with the boy for so long; discussing the pros and cons of sitting in the "nosebleed" section of a spectating event. And what a "nosebleed" is. The boy had been very helpful, not just with informing her of the cultures of his world, but also by instructing her on how to get to Beach City using a technological device called an "EyeFone".

After traveling through the city for a short while, Aventurine found herself in a truly peculiar place. Surrounding here were flashing lights with meaningless directions. The gem looked at the large colorful screen before her. It was appeared to be some kind of communicator, but she couldn't figure out how to work it.

"Hey, you!" A bald man shouted, running up to her. "You're not one of those Crystal Gems, are you?"

A Crystal Gem? Aventurine had heard stories about them. But they were long dead; they had all be exterminated in the war. The man must be mistaken.

"Because all gems are banned from this arcade!" The man continued, "So just leave before you break something."

While Aventurine wasn't intimidated by the human, or any human for that matter, she knew not to make an enemy of the locals. Slowly, she walked back out of the arcade and into the air. The town was not a big one; surely if this was the location of the most gem activity, it wouldn't be hard to find them.

Aventurine continued walking, observing the seemingly indifferent humans as she passed. As she made it to a small space between two buildings, she heard a noise. Turning to look down the path, she watched as a blue gem was holding open a large trash component. When she shifted slightly, Aventurine could see the gem on her back. A lapis lazuli. There was an excited shout and then a green gem popped up from the pile of waste; holding a shiny metal object.

"This will be perfect for the meep morp I'm working on!" The green gem exclaimed.

A peridot. Aventurine stepped back around the corner so she wouldn't be spotted, and watched as the Lapis helped the Peridot out of the dumpster. The two seemed friendly. This wasn't a situation in which one of them was captured; nor did they look to be in any rush to get back to safety.

Aventurine waited until their voices grew distant and then ducked into the alleyway to follow their tracks back to their base. They were most likely the gems that Aventurine had come to retrieve; the chances of them being hostile where low; but Aventurine wasn't sure she could take down a Lapis by herself. For now, she would have to wait, and watch.

* * *

Topaz

"See anything back there?" Topaz gasped as she jumped over a large, jutting rock.

Lavender's breath was by her ear; "Um…"

Topaz gritted her jaw as she hid behind a sandstone pillar for a moment, she had to figure something out. She couldn't keep running forever. "This thing has been hunting us all day. I haven't seen it yet and I'd like to keep it that way."

"What happens if it does catch us?" Lavender asked quietly.

"We'll have to fight it." Topaz grunted, shifting to look behind the pillar at where they had just came. "I'm a warrior, so I'll probably be okay, but I don't know about you, scrawny. Do you even have a weapon?"

She could practically _feel_ Lavender shrink into herself, "Well, no, but…"

"No, that's fine. Really. Great. It's not like I might need back up or anything." Topaz muttered, seeing that the coast was clear behind them. She turned back to look at the gem in her arms, "We just have to- fuck!"

Lavender's face immediately lit up in a bright blush, "I-I- what- no- I-"

But Topaz wasn't paying her any attention. The bigger gem set her down and pushed her behind her in one smooth motion. Lavender turned just in time to see her summon her weapon from the gem on her shoulder.

Standing before them, almost as tall as Topaz herself, was a large, pink creature with wild hair around it's face. Topaz raised her ax above her head. The creature licked its heart-shaped nose, unintimidated. As Topaz swung the ax down towards the creature's face, it easily batted it away with a giant paw. The creature walked around Topaz and instead pressed its face against Lavender's stomach.

"Hey!" Topaz said, "Get away from her!"

The creature ducked it's head lower and slide it between Lavender's shaking legs. With a easy lift, Lavender found herself slung over the shoulders of the beast. Topaz stared in confused shock.

"Stop it! Put her down!" Topaz sputtered, swinging her ax again. The creature batted it away, just as easily as the first time. Topaz yelled in frustration, and jumped forward and started pounding on the monster's side with her fists. The creature turned and carefully but firmly grabbed Topaz's arm with his teeth. "What are you-?"

Lavender had shifted so she was sitting more securely on it's back, her hands were gripped tightly in it's pink fur. The creature turned and started walking away, forcing Topaz to either keep up or be dragged along like some rotten meat. The Lion let out a bone-chilling roar from around Topaz's arm.

A beam of magic shot out from it's mouth and formed a portal before them.

"It's a magic monster!" Lavender shouted.

"Well that's just _great_." Topaz dug her heels into the sand and tried to pull her arm out of it's grasp, but it wouldn't budge and the creature simply kept tugging her along easily.

"Where's it taking us?" Lavender asked as they approached the portal.

Topaz was tugged forward harshly and she tripped, landing in the sand painfully, her arm was still in the creature's mouth and she was now being dragged through the sand. Bitterly, she muttered, "To shatter and eat us, probably."

* * *

Cat's Eye

The pretty Miss Jenny was holding Cat's Eye again. Now they were standing before some door. Buck had knocked on the door and Sour Cream was looking through the window. Cat's Eye was getting tired. Her eyelid felt heavy and she rested her head against the pretty Miss Jenny's shoulder.

"Steven? Are you home?" Jenny called as she knocked again.

There was a crashing sound coming from inside and then the screen door opened, Steven looking a little worse for wear, "Hey, sorry, guys. I can't hang out today. The gems are really freaked out because Garne- WHAT IS THAT?!"

"I'm Cat's Eye" Cat yawned, "I'm a gem."

Steven stared at her for a long moment, his eye twitching. Then, without looking away, he called into the house, "Garnet? Amethyst? Pearl?"

The gems practically materialized from nowhere beside Steven. They gasped when they saw the sleepy gem in Jenny's arms and looked at each other.

"Is that the gem you saw?" Pearl asked.

Garnet nodded. "Yes."

"Why'd she come here, yo?" Amethyst asked, "What kind of battle plan is that?"

Steven was fidgeting nervously, "Uh, Jenny? Can we, um, see her? For a while?"

Suspicion rose in Jenny's voice as she asked, "Why?"

She turned, putting herself between Cat and the Crystal Gems. Buck and Sour Cream stepped up to either side of her, each wearing various levels of hesitation. Garnet was the one who spoke up, "She is an enemy to Earth, and we need to-"

"Uh-nuh! You are not hurting this precious little baby!" Jenny interrupted, "I brought her here because she was alone and scared and I thought she was a Crystal Gem!"

"Well, she's not, she's a menace to society." Pearl crossed her arms. "Please, human, let us do our job and protect you."

Steven spoke up, raising his arms, "Whoa, guys, let's all just calm down! We don't know _for sure_ if this gem was going to kill us all and destroy the entire planet. Maybe she was just coming to earth to say hello and make new friends!"

"Steven, be real." Pearl scoffed, "You know what Garnet saw. That gem is from Homeworld!"

"So was Peridot! And Lapis! And you!" Steven was almost yelling, "Maybe she's nice!"

"Either way, she's asleep." Jenny said, "Does this really look like the face of impending doom to you?"

The gems looked over to see Cat's eye closed completely, her chest rising and falling slowly, and a thumb in her mouth. The tiny gem was completely around Jenny's shoulder, like the human was the most comfortable bed in all of existence.

"Awww." Steven said, reaching forward to take Cat's Eye from Jenny, "Don't worry, I won't let them hurt her."

Jenny hesitated, and then carefully shifted the sleeping gem to Steven's arms, "Alright. But if I find out that y'all hurt her, we're gonna have to fight."

"We don't fight mortals." Pearl said slowly, "but, fine. We'll … postpone the … interrogation."

The three teenagers gave them a long stare before slowly slinking down the stairs, whispering to themselves. Steven carried the gem into the house. She looked a lot bigger in Steven's arms than she did in Jenny's. She had to be the size of a small Ruby. Steven set her down on the couch and watched as the gem curled up in a ball, snuggling back against the cushion.

"Are you sure this is the all-powerful, destructive being you saw in your vision, G?" Amethyst asked, crossing her arms.

"I'm sure." Garnet nodded.

Pearl was pacing, "Well, we should get rid of her now, while we have the chance."

Steven stood before her, "Oh, no! You're _not_ poofing her while she sleeps! That's just rude!"

Pearl sighed and looked to Garnet, "Well, if what you saw is true, then I rather like our odds of taking her by surprise."

Garnet opened her mouth to reply, but Steven whined at her and gave her his best puppy eyes. The fusion closed her mouth again and shrugged.

"You have got to be kidding me." Pearl grumbled.

"Steven's right." Garnet said. "We should at least talk to her first."

Suddenly, a little jingle came from Steven's pocket. He pulled out his phone, expecting to see Connie's name, but was surprised to find it was Peridot's instead. He answered it instantly, "Hello?"

"Steven? Come to the barn." There was a loud slamming noise and a grunt of pain, "Now!"

Then the line went dead. Steven stared up, wide-eyed at the gems, "We have to go."

"We can't just leave that here by herself." Pearl said, pointing to Cat, who was snoring softly. Pearl paused, looking unimpressed, "Well, maybe we could."

"I'll stay with her." Amethyst shrugged, "I need a nap anyway."

"No. If we need you, you need to be ready to come to the barn." Garnet instructed. Amethyst sighed but nodded, realizing she just volunteered for the boring job.

Steven, Pearl, and Garnet ran out of the house, headed toward the barn.

* * *

Aventurine

Her position has been compromised. By, of all things, a sentient vegetable; the orange creature ran up to her, barking wildly and exposing her hiding place. Aventurine gasped as the gems turned around and saw her.

"What are you doing here?!" The Lapis shouted as the Peridot ran into a large red building. Aventurine lifted the yapping pumpkin with her mind and hurled it at the gem. Lapis caught it, her expression turning from shock and concern to hatred. She gently set the whimpering creature down. "Oh, you are going to pay for that."

Lapis raised her hand and summoned the water from a small pool next to her. It formed into a hand that picked Aventurine up before she could dodge. Aventurine's body glitched and she fell through the water's grip, landing on the floor.

"What the?" Lapis asked herself, staring at the grey gem. She was so distracted that she forgot to protect herself as Aventurine sent a tire at her. Lapis was knocked back onto the ground, tumbling in the dirt. She grunted as she lifted her hand up and smashed the water down again, Aventurine tumbled out of the way just in time.

"Wait!" Aventurine held up her hand, "I'm here to help! I'm here to take you home!"

"This is my home!" Lapis shouted at her, "I'm not leaving!"

Aventurine lowered her hand slightly, baffled, "But, why?"

Neither of them got the chance to react, because in that moment, a spear landed in the ground before Aventurine face. The gem felt her form shift in manner at the sight of it. She looked up and saw "...a Pearl?"

Behind the Pearl stood a large gem with two gauntlets and a tiny human. Aventurine understood immediately that she was outnumbered. "Wait, I didn't intend to fight."

"You threw pumpkin!" The Peridot shouted from the safety of the barn.

"I need help. And I intend to give help." Aventurine turned to send a confused look to Lapis, "Although it appears unwanted."

The human piped up, stepping forward, "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Aventurine paused, and then finally said, "I need to borrow your communicator. Or a tracker. I have lost my team."

The pearl looked to the large gem, "You don't think…?"

"Is one of them this tall?" Steven held up his hand to about his eye-level, "has only one eye? Blonde hair?"

Aventurine looked over the gems, debating on telling the truth or not. At the Pearl's expression, she grew worried, "What had you done to her?"

"Nothing! Nothing! She's taking a nap at home." The human said, raising his hands in defense. Aventurine looked to the barn, tilting her head to see if she could feel Cat's presence. "Um, my home. It's… that way."

"Steven…" The pearl warned.

"She just wants to find her friends." the Steven argued, he reached his hand forward, to help Aventurine up. The grey gem hesitated, but finally reached out to take his offered help. As her fingertips brushed against his skin, her hand glitched out of existence for a second. It didn't go unnoticed, "Is your gem cracked?"

"No." Aventurine removed her hand and got up on her own. "Do not fret over what you wouldn't understand, small human."

Steven gave her a strange look, "O...kay."

During the walk back the pearl and the large gem were on guard. Aventurine turned her head to see the larger gem. After a quick once over, she stated, "You are a fusion."

"Is that going to be a problem?" The gem replied, her hands tightening into fists.

Aventurine looked forward, "Not at all. My leader is a fusion."

The pearl shot the fusion a confused look, "That's certainly progressive of Homeworld."

"It was an incident of circumstance." Aventurine said calmly. "Homeworld still refuses to accept different gem fusion."

"Oh." The pearl muttered, "Of course."

The Steven stopped in his tracks, "Hey, what's Lion doing?"

From where they stood, Aventurine could see a pink creature with its jaws around Topaz's form. Aventurine's unneeded blood turned to ice. "Topaz!"

Before anyone could stop her, she teleported down to the beach where the creature was. Topaz gasped at her sudden appearance, and Lavender squeaked in surprise. The latter gem was currently under the lion's large paw, pinned into the sand.

"Ave!" Topaz said, reaching out to her with her free hand. Aventurine pressed her body up against her friend's, allowing the other to wrap her arm around her. "Diamond, Ave, you're buzzing. You've got to calm down."

"I thought I'd never find you again." Aventurine whispered, her shaky hands brushing along Topaz's strong shoulders and chest.

"I know, I know. It's okay; I'm here." Topaz whispered back, her fingers gently massaging into Aventurine's back.

Aventurine turned her attention to Topaz's shoulder that was closest to the creature's mouth. She sucked in a breath when she saw how close her friend's gem was to the lion's sharp teeth.

"It's okay, it's okay! He hasn't tried to hurt me. Or Lavender. We're fine. I'm okay." Topaz said, "My gem's fine."

"I was so worried you poofed." Aventurine admitted.

"I know…"

"LION!" Steven ran up to his pet. "Drop the gem! Drop her!"

The creature blinked at Steven and continued to hold Topaz in his jaw. Topaz looked over at the gems standing behind the human. "Aw, I been gone a day and you already replaced me with a Pearl?"

Aventurine laughed, "Don't be absurd. I'd _at least_ replace you with a Jasper."

Lavender looked up at her teammates from the floor, wondering when she'd be noticed and if she should say anything. It didn't seem like she was in immediate danger. So she supposed she could stay here for a little while longer. They looked busy anyway.

Steven was now grabbing at Lion's jaw, trying to pry it open. "Come on! Let her go! I'm so sorry about this, he's usually so well-behaved!"

Topaz wasn't even listening to him, instead focused on the scratches on Aventurine's clothes, "Did you get hurt?"

"No, no. I got in trouble with a Lapis." Aventurine said, almost shlyly. "I started it."

"Ave!"

"I know, I know-"

Steven paused his efforts to ask, "Hey, when you said your boss was a fusion, is it of you two?"

Topaz's face lit up in a dark blush, "W-what?!"

Lion chose that moment to let go of the gem. She crashed to the ground for the second time that day. Lavender waved at her now that they were on the same level. Aventurine helped her stand up, seemingly unaffected by the boy's comment, "No, I do not fuse."

The pink lion lifted up his paw, allowing Lavender to crawl out from under his grasp. She brushed off the dirt from her uniform, embarrassed by how stupid she looked in front of the strangers.

"Well, I think we should get to know each other; I'm Steven!" Steven said, looking at the new gems.

"You said Cat's Eye was here." Aventurine said. Topaz crossed her arms at the mention of the smaller gem. Lavender looked around, stepping closer to Topaz when she realized one of her adversaries was a fusion.

Steven's eyes lit up, "Oh, yeah." He turned around and hollered up to a house in the side of a mountain. "AMETHYST!"

"WHAT!?" A voice called back.

"BRING THE GEM HERE!"

"Oh, honestly," Pearl crossed her arms, "You could have just called her."

Topaz raised an eyebrow and looked to Aventurine, "She's kinda got a mouth for a Pearl."

Aventurine didn't react, but Lavender saw the way a vein twitched in the pearl's forehead. She leaned back so she was hidden behind Topaz. If things went bad because of a few snarky remarks, Lavender didn't want to be the one blamed for it.

The next thing she knew, an extraordinarily small Amethyst was chasing Cat's Eye down the beach. The smaller gem was giggling as she ran away, while the slightly bigger one summoned her whip to try to lasso her.

"Whatever was your mission here, abandon it now. This is your only warning." Garnet told them as Amethyst dragged a limp Cat Eye to the group. "Homeworld gems are _not_ welcome on my planet."

"Oooooh," Topaz said, looking down at the Amethyst, "That explains it. You're from _Earth_." She then turned to Pearl, "Are you also Earth-made? That could explain whole…" She just waved her hand to indicate all of Pearl's being, "... _that_."

Pearl fumed with hate, reaching to summon her weapon. Amethyst wasn't far behind her, her hatred clear in her eyes. Garnet stopped both of them with a hand to their shoulders.

"Okay, wait, wait, okay," Cat's Eye said as she wiggled out from Amethyst's whip. The small gem got to her feet and then waddled over to Lavender, holding up her hands, "Lav, Lav, hey, Lav, Lavender, hey, how are you? Hey, Lav?"

Lavender sighed as she picked up the other gem. Cat's Eye immediately engulfed her in a hug, mumbling, "I misseded you!"

And then they were fusing, in front of everyone, dissipating their forms and then regenerating into an entirely new being. Lavender was extraordinarily embarrassed, but as more parts of her became Cat's Eye, she didn't feel as anxious.

"Okay." Tiger Eye said as she had finished forming. "Now, you," She pointed to Topaz, "Go sit in the corner. Don't insult our new friends."

"Corner?" Topaz asked.

"Friends?" Pearl added.

"Go!" Tiger pointed two fingers toward the ocean behind them. "Stand over there!"

Topaz threw her hands up in the air, but stalked over to the water, grumbling to herself. With her gone, Tiger turned to the new gems. "I am so sorry about her. She's, you know, Homeworld. A bit racist. A bit classist. Super hypocritical. Etc, etc, etc."

None of them looked too satisfied by the apology, but Pearl lowered her hand and Amethyst dissipated her whip. Steven, however, looked very excited.

"Oh my gosh! Who are you?" Steven reached up to touch each of her four hands. "Fusssiooon!"

"My name is Purple Tiger Eye." Tiger said, "And I'm sorry for causing your friends worry. We merely are here on a search and retrieve mission from my Diamond."

"Search and retrieve?" Steven repeated, looking up at her.

Tiger nodded. "My Diamond needs the gems that have been trapped on this planet. Resources are low and we're to return before the cluster destroys this colony and the gems trapped here."

"But the cluster is-" Steven started to say, but Pearl put her hand over his mouth. The gem continued for him, "fully functioning! In tip-top shape! We're actually here to, uh, watch it. And help it grow!"

Tiger raised her eyebrows, "Really?"

"Yes, we are the, uh…" She looked to Garnet, who thought fast.

"The Suicide Squad." Garnet spoke seriously.

Steven's head whipped around, "You said I wasn't allowed to watch that-" He was interrupted again by the Pearl.

"Yes! We are here to stay on the colony until the Cluster has formed. Our Diamonds do not expect us to return." Pearl threw her arms in the air, "Oh, it is a truly horrendous end for us, but our Diamonds, then we are willing to make the sacrifice!"

"Chill, P." Amethyst muttered, looking unimpressed.

"So…" Tiger said slowly, trying to connect the dots, "you aren't trapped here?"

"No. We are staying here under the strict orders of our superiors." Garnet said.

Tiger stepped forward, grabbing Garnet's hands, "Did they force you to fuse, too? It's weird, isn't it? I never felt so… conflicted before."

Garnet looked down at her hands then up into Tiger's one eye, "Right… conflicted."

"But it's also nice. Because, like, I like who I am now. And I look fantastic! And I'm so tall! And strong! I can see why my Diamond required it. This is great!" Tiger added, gabbering a bit.

"Right, well. You can go now. We're not needing rescuing, nor are well allowed to leave. Diamond's orders and all that. So, uh, you can go now." Pearl said, stepping between Tiger and Garnet.

"Oh, yeah!" Tiger turned to look at Aventurine, who shook her head slowly. Turning back to the gems, Tiger deflated, "Yeah, no. Um… due to… unperceivable circumstance, we're trapped here, now."

"What?" Pearl asked, her eye twitching.

"Yeah, see, someone, and I'm not naming names or anything," Tiger explained, "but someone was a little, uh, rude, and made someone else feel uncomfortable, which made someone else unfuse, which allowed another person to push a button she really shouldn't of, and long story short, our ship blew up."

Steven looked as if that explanation broke his mind. The Crystal Gems all looked at each other, with various levels of annoyance.

"But, uh, if you have extra parts laying around, we can fix up a new ship." Tiger said.

" _I_ can fix up a new ship." Aventurine corrected.

"Aventurine can fix up a new ship."

"But it will take a while." Aventurine looked to Garnet, "a _long_ while."

The Crystal Gems could sense the foreboding in that sentence; how the grey gem clearly didn't believe their story. This was the one to be worried about. The Topaz and fusion were just soldiers; lackies following orders. But this one was quick witted. It would take more than a quick lie to fool her.

"Very well." Pearl said slowly.

Steven jumped up in excitement, "Yay! Sleep over!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!


	6. Secrets Revealed

Topaz strolled up to the other two gems, "So, what's the plan?"

"We're staying here." Aventurine informed her. "These gems are from homeworld. Volunteering to watch the Cluster."

"And you believed that?" Topaz asked, sending a judging glance to the crystal gems. It was how Aventurine had said the news that tipped Topaz off. If her friend was more casual about it, Topaz would have believed the lie and called it a day.

Aventurine tilted her head to Purple Tiger Eye, "Of course not. But she did. And we cannot disobey a direct order from our superior."

"Oh, that's bullshit." Topaz hissed, grabbing Aventurine's arm, "I say we grab these missing gems, take them home whether they want to or not, and check in with our Diamond."

"Tiger had already agreed on our temporary living quarters." Aventurine said gently, "We have no ship, no way to communicate home, and nowhere else to go."

Topaz stepped closer to the grey gem, whispering now, "Ave, we can't fail this mission. _I_ can't fail this mission."

Aventurine carefully peeled Topaz's large hand off her arm and held it in both her hands, "I know. Don't worry, we'll be okay."

"Hey, guys?" Tiger asked, gesturing to the strange gems a few feet away, "The small human would like to show us where we're staying."

"Lovely." Topaz groaned. Aventurine held her hand all the way up the stairs and into the house, but it didn't ease her aggravated nature.

Steven ran around the room in the house, pointing to various things that the new gems could use to feel more comfortable. "The bathroom's over there. I know you don't need it, but Peridot still likes to sit in there sometimes when she's angry. Here's the kitchen; you're welcome to anything."

"No you're not." Amethyst said, crossing her arms, "I got dibs on anything in there."

Topaz snorted at the nonthreatening gem. Honestly, for a warrior gem she was nothing. Scrawny and poorly uniformed. Topaz should give her pointers on how to be a better soldier.

"The couch is available if you want to sleep. I know Cat's Eye likes it there."

"Oh, yeah. It's super comfy." Tiger confirmed for them. "Lavender, you have to try it!"

"Yeah, okay…" Tiger said to herself, responding to herself. Pearl looked to Garnet, wondering what the fusion thought of their 'required fused' friend. If Garent had any emotion regarding the fact, she didn't say anything; her face carefully blank.

"My bedroom is up there. We got tv; I like this show, called ' _Crying Breakfast Friends_ ' and you're welcome to watch it with me. I can catch you up, if you want." Steven continued, "And then over there is the Warp Pad, and behind that is the gem's rooms. But, you guys's room will just have to be the house for now. You don't get your own room in there."

Aventurine spoke up then, "Where shall I start rebuilding the ship? And do you have a communicator so we can report in to our Diamond?"

"That's back at the barn, yo." Amethyst said, "We can g-"

"Hold on." Garnet said suddenly, her gaze turning towards the Warp Pad. "Something's attacking the Galaxy Warp."

Pearl and Amethyst jumped to attention, "What? Now?"

"Yes." Garnet said, "Gems, to the Warp!"

The Crystal Gems found themselves with one extra member. Amethyst was the one to get her attention, "Uh, dude. What are you doing?"  
Tiger blinked down at her, "Preparing to warp."

Steven chewed his lip, "Um, we really appreciate the help, but it might be better if you stay here."

The fusion crossed her four arms, "Oh no. This is _gem technology_ that's under attack. I stand for the safety and assurance of all of my Diamond's stuff and that includes colonial assets."

Topaz spoke up, her and Aventurine standing a ways away from the Warp uncertainly, "Hey, get down from there. It's really not that big of a deal. Besides, they already got their own fusion; no need to make things more uncomfortable."

"What Topaz means to say is that we don't need to fight this battle." Aventurine said slowly, raising her hands in a calming manner.

Tiger looked confused for a moment, "No, we should help. I know this is what we should do. I got this feeling; we're meant to help them. Our ship crashed for a reason!"

"That reason is you're an idiot!" Topaz snapped, "Get off their Warp Pad and think for a second! There's no point in risking ourselves for their mission."

Tiger's expression grew dark; in a way that neither of the gems before her had seen before. It actually made a shiver of fear run down their backs as their leader growled, "Get your useless gems on here and help me help our friends or I swear to Diamond; we'll have a pretty big issue."

Topaz and Aventurine looked at each other, seeming to have a silent conversation. Tiger snapped "Now!", they both flinched and scrambled onto the Warp Pad.

Tiger smiled warmly at Garnet, "We're happy to help."

"Thanks." Garnet deadpanned, mentally screaming in frustration.

Everyone was prepared to fight when they warped to the Galaxy Warp. Surrounding them were dozens of creepy crab-looking monsters with large claws. They crawled around the Warp Pads, snapping at everything; breaking chunks of the Warp Pads along the way.

Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst jumped off; picking their enemies and jumping into the battle. Steven ran after them, creating a shield as he went. Tiger's eye widened at the sight. The tiny human had a gem weapon? How was that possible?

_Maybe he asked nicely._ She thought.

_No, more likely he was an experiment._ She thought back.

_Oh, yeah._

Tiger leaped off the warp pad, summoning Cat's hammer from the gem in her right eye. The crabs were fairly large, and taking one on was no easy feat. Tiger jumped over one claw and slid under the next. Adrenaline was racing through her veins as she was focused in the heat of the battle.

"I've never done this before!" Tiger said to herself, "This is kinda, well," she jumped onto the crab's back, digging the handle of the hammer into it's hard flesh, "awesome!"

"I _knew_ you'd like this." Tiger laughed as she lifted her hammer and slammed it down on the top of the crab's head. To her surprise; it poofed under her and she fell to the ground. Rubbing her back, she groaned. "What the?"

Sitting beside her on the ground, was a red gem. Tiger's eye widened as her heart stopped. "They're gems?!"

Tiger watched as the Suicide Squad attacked these monster gems with ease and grace; not seeing anything wrong in what they were doing. Meanwhile, Aventurine and Topaz were mostly avoiding the monsters; Topaz had her ax out; holding it before her in a defensive position. Aventurine stood behind her, seemingly doing nothing.

Another crab came up to Tiger; forcing her to move out of the way. She grabbed her hammer and held it up as the crab's claw snapped down at her. The claw was stuck open this way and Tiger glimpsed inside and saw the gem glistening in there. A shudder went down her spine as she leaned back, regretting wanting to come along. The crab's other claw came around from the side to snap at her; Tiger used her two free arms to hold that claw open. Her muscles were shaking with both emotion and intensity.

The next thing she knew, the crab disappeared into a cloud of smoke and the gem that haunted Tiger when she blinked fell to the ground by her leg. Tiger looked up, panting, to see Topaz standing over her.

"You okay?" Topaz asked, awkwardly avoiding eye contact.

"They're gems." Tiger replied in a gasp.

"We noticed." Aventurine said, standing behind Topaz, a sleeve-covered arm linked with the other gem's.

"Diamond, okay, both of you calm down." Topaz hissed, turning to Aventurine as she said, "It'll be okay. Whatever this is has nothing to do with us."

"I just poofed one! So did you! Of course this has to do with us!" Tiger said, sitting up slightly, "These gems, they're attacking each other. Why are gems fighting gems?"

Neither of them could answer her. Tiger's chest wouldn't stop heaving with each breath; her hands were shaking as she curled her legs up near her. "None of this makes since. We're on the same side. Why would our Diamond allow this?"

"Why not ask them." Topaz suggested warily as the gems walked up to them. The human ran up to Tiger, worry on his face.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Steven asked, he froze in his spot when he saw the horror on the fusion's face. Tears were forming in her eye as she looked from Steven to the gem on the floor and back again at the child. How many had he poofed? Does he know what he's doing? To make matters worse, the Amethyst was walking around, bubbling the gems on the floor.

Steven seemed to understand, he looked up to Garnet and Pearl, "It's not what it looks like."

"It's exactly what it looks like!" Tiger shouted, "You're attacking gems!"

"What has Homeworld told you?" Pearl asked, slowly, her eyes already calculating.

"They certainly didn't tell us that we'd be doing this!" Tiger hissed, "I can't fight other gems. It isn't right!"

Pearl looked to Garnet, who took a deep breath. "They aren't really gems. Not anymore. They've been corrupted. These creatures aren't the things they used to be."

Tiger scoffed, unbelieving, "Right. And how does a gem just become corrupted? Nothing can corrupt us. We're… we're… incorruptible!"

Steven sat down next to Tiger, "It happened during the war."

Garnet crossed her arms, "Homeworld was losing, so they retreated. And, as a last result, they sent off a type of bomb, a corruption song, that mutated the appearance and minds of the gems that were left on Earth. Now, they're nothing more than monsters that we need to get rid of."

"But it's okay." Steven added, "because one day we'll be able to fix them."

Tiger shook her head, looking back up at Garnet, "No. I refuse to believe that. Homeworld wouldn't _infect_ it's own gems. My Diamond wouldn't do that! No one would do that! How could you just terrorize a person without caring on how it changes them? Homeworld doesn't hurt it's own gems."

"Are you sure about that?" Pearl asked, her expression one of pity more than anything. But she wasn't looking at Tiger. The fusion followed her gaze to see her own squadron. Fury was lit in Topaz's eyes, she was clenching and unclenching her hands; her teeth grinding the words unsaid. Aventurine was shaking, her expression hidden from their view under the white cloak she always wears.

Tiger stared at her friends, her arms shaking from the realization, "What aren't you telling us?"

Aventurine turned away, hiding in the crook of Topaz's neck. Meanwhile, Topaz avoided her gaze, biting her lip until it bled.

"Guys?" Tiger asked, her voice shaking, "What don't we know?"

Tiger was going through fission, she could feel it. This was too much. First fighting a gem and now finding out that her squadron wasn't telling her something, it shook her. She couldn't wrap her mind around everything. Her body flashed and she disappeared.

"Are you guys okay?" Cat asked from where she now sat on the floor, her eye wide with concern. "What's wrong? Is it cuz Mrs. and Mrs. Garnet told a sad story?"

"No you stupid piece of crust." Topaz hissed, "Just shut u-"

"Leave her alone."

Topaz looked up in shock. The emotion behind that voice and the fire in those violet eyes were last thing she ever expected to see. "What…?"

"Leave her alone! At least she's trying to understand! You never even gave her a chance! You never gave either of us a chance!" Lavender was screaming, tears running down her flushed face.

"I didn't…" Topaz was at a loss for words. The small, scrawny gem was furious at her and, honestly, she never thought she'd see the sight of the gem standing up for herself.

Cat scooted over and patted Lavender's foot comfortingly. "Lavender?"

Lav huffed out a shuddering breath, picking up the gem. She hid her face in the orange gem's hair. "Will you take us back now?"

"Yes, of course." Pearl said softly, leading Lavender away with a hand on her back.

Topaz watched them go, and flinched as they teleported out of sight. Aventurine was buzzing under her arm, and Topaz knew she had to get her friend to calm down, but all she could think of was the pain in Lavender's eyes.

Garnet turned to the two gems, "It seems you have something to discuss."

"I don't know how." Topaz whispered, her eyes not leaving the Warp Pad.

Her skin cold against Topaz's neck, Aventurine mumbled, "I do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!


	7. Questions and Answers

Steven sighed as he curled up in bed. The new gems were sitting around in a circle downstairs. Amethyst volunteered to watch them. The Crystal Gems were on guard around them; after the whole Navy thing. But Steven isn't worried. They don't seem like the backstabbing kind. But, then, neither was Navy…

It was all too complicated to worry about right now. He decides to ignore the feeling until tomorrow morning as he crawls under his blankets and sleeps.

* * *

"So, uh, what'cha guys doing, anyway?" Amethyst asked from her spot on the couch. Cat was sitting next to her, coloring with some crayons Steven gave her earlier. The rest of the group was sitting around a in a circle, their hands clasped. "I thought you guys weren't talking?"

"It would be harmful to the mission for our crew to be in shambles." Lavender said curtly, her eyes on the floor in the middle of them. "For our Diamond, we are doing our best to fix the problem before it taints us all."

Amethyst sat up, blinking in surprise. She thinks back to when Pearl had made Garnet mad and the two didn't speak for weeks. Her mind even supplied countless times when she was mad and didn't talk to anyone. The Crystal Gems had fought multiple times, and got hurt because of it. But these Homeworld gems, that are on their first mission together, understand problem solving better than them? Well, this got her interest.

"I'm going to connect Lavender's mind with Topaz's in order for her to understand what we had gone through and why we couldn't tell her." Aventurine said calmly.

Amethyst tilted her head, "Uh, why don't you just fuse?"

Lavender immediately pulled her hands back, like she'd been burned. Her body shook and her voice was tight as she said, "I'd rather not."

"Okay…" Amethyst watched as they slowly coaxed Lavender to take their hands again and they all grew quiet. For a moment, nothing happened. But then, all of their gems started to glow and a sudden wind whipped around the room. Amethyst watched as they shivered, their muscles tightening and contracting uselessly. Cat Eye was watching with a wide stare, her hands stilling. Steven made a whimpered noise from is bed.

* * *

"Next batch, fresh from the ground." A muscled gem said as she tipped over a box of gems. The room was dark, except for the small lava river that circled around the workshop. There were two gems that greeted the muscled one.

 _Where am I_? Steven thought as he looked around. He had no recollection of this place.

"There's so few." A gem that Steven didn't know the name of said. Silently, echoed in his mind, the name was supplied. Prehnite. A very smart technician gem; high class.

"What part of rations do you not understand?" The muscled gem muttered, but immediately saluted the Prehnite and muttered, "Ma'am."

"Dismissed." Prehnite hissed, waving her hand, and the muscle gem left. "How do they expect me to find a solution when I have nothing to test? I need more gems!"

The other gem, a Bismuth, shrugged, "I dunno. But we are getting closer. The gems stayed alive last time."

"Hmm. Yes, the Topazes." Prehnite pulled up a screen to check her data. "But, on the account of their size, they're all too small. Not as small as the Earth-made gems, of course, but they are not up to my Diamond's standards."

"And there's the regeneration thing." Bismuth added.

"Yes, that too." Prehnite mumbled, "I've never seen a gem refuse to regenerate before."

 _Regeneration?_ Steven made careful steps closer, looking at the pile of gems that was on the floor.

"Very well. Let's get started." Prehnite said, picking up a smooth looking grey gem. She placed it on a table and clamped it in place. Then, Bismuth moved forward, shifting her hand into a type of saw. Steven watched in horror, listening to the screams of anguish coming from the gem as it was cut apart.

"Stop!" Steven yelled, "You're going to shatter her!"

But the gems weren't listening, the high-pitched screams were suddenly silenced as the gem was cut clean apart. Bismuth then took both of the pieces and dunked them in the lava; cauterizing the two cut sides. The two pieces were placed back on the table and Prehnite came forward, squeezing drops of something onto the two pieces.

Steven watched as the two sides of the same gem tried to reform. It's crying brought tears to Steven's eyes as the two forms shifted, attempting to make something out of nothing. A being with half a body, gasping and grasping desperately for it's other half.

"No, don't let them fuse!" Prehnite said, and Bismuth moved one of the gems to the other side of the room. "They have to do this on their own. The point is to make _more_."

The two beings screamed as their light tried to solidify. Steven put his hands over his ears and yelled with them, "Stop it! You're hurting them!"

"Maybe they just need more." Bismuth said, gesturing to the bottle of liquid in Prehnite's hand. "If they were stronger, they wouldn't need each other."

"We have to ration this, too!" Prehnite hissed. "If these two won't do it, then just get more. One of these pieces of crust will corporate!"

"Maybe we just have to cut them differently." Bismuth said, scratching the gem on her thigh. Prehnite looked down at Bismuth's gem, raising an eyebrow at how it's one of the only gems that naturally forms with an indent.

"My Diamond, I think I have an idea." Prehnite said, swinging her arm so the half of the grey gem that was on the table flung against the wall, shattering into pieces. The other half across the room screamed in horror and pain. Steven watched as it shriveled into itself, it's physical form disappearing entirely. Bismuth was clearly confused as she watched Prehnite dig through the pile of gems. "This one will do. Thick form, deep cut. Perfect."

Steven crawled over to the half of the grey gem that was now on the floor. He tried to pick it up, but his hand went right through it. He didn't exist in this world. His heart ached and he wanted to help this poor gem but he didn't know how. Tears were flowing down his face as he turned at the sound of a drill against rock and the screaming of a gem in pain.

"Deeper." Prehnite said, watching from the other side of the table. "Deeper."

"I'm not sure how much this gem can take."

"Did I stutter!? Deeper!"

Bismuth grit her teeth and drilled deep into the gems core, cutting out a circle. She was able to wiggle the chunk out of the gem and now there were two separate grey gems. Two separate screaming voices. They were dunked in the lava and sprayed with the mystery spray. Steven watched as the two grey gems formed very slowly.

"Yes, yes." Prehnite said, "They don't recognize each other. They think their they're own gem!"

Bismuth whistled, long and low as the two figures formed after very long moments.

"Recreation takes them a while, but that's alright." Prehnite said as she typed out the information, "Certainly better than the last batch."

"Speaking of the last batch." Bismuth said as the door behind Steven opened. He turned to see Topaz stumble into the room. "What are you doing in here? This area's off-limits!"

"Ah! S-sorry!" Topaz soluted immediately, "Um, there was an announcement a while ago? When we first were put in the room?"

"Yes, yes, and?" Prehnite said, waiting her hand. She didn't take her eyes off of the twin grey gems.

"It said that when there was only one Topaz left, they were supposed to come tell you?" Topaz looked so small here. Logically, she was the same Topaz that was sitting in his house right now. But how she held herself was almost a complete 180 of the Topaz before him. "Well… um, here I am. The last one."

Prehnite looked up at that. She and Bismuth shared a look. "Why are you the one that survived?"

"I, um, don't know. But all the others are still on the floor…" Topaz pointed behind her with her thumb, "If you want to, uh, heal them?"

"Heal them?" Prehnite asked, "What do you mean."

"Um, make them come back."

Prehnite snorted, "No, that's up to them. They have to regenerate on their own."

Topaz blinked, "How?"

"Every gem knows how to regenerate." Bismuth said, "They'll figure it out."

Topaz didn't look so sure, she rubbed the back of her neck, "But… it's been _weeks_ for some of them. A month for the first."

Prehnite wrote in her notes, "They're not the smartest of gems…"

Bismuth laughed and said, "Alright, go report to Emerald. She'll want to know about the failure of your section."

Topaz nodded slowly and then her eyes shifted over to the gems on the table. "What's wrong with them?"

"What do you mea-aaaaan!" Prehnite ran to stand behind Bismuth, "What is _that!?"_

"I-I-I DON'T KNOW!" Bismuth shouted, summoning her weapon, "IT'S GOT TO BE A MISTAKE!"

"SHATTER IT! SHATTER IT! SHATTER IT! SHATTER IT!"

Everyone was screaming and Steven couldn't get a good view of what was happening, he didn't even know what the grey gems formed into, all he knew was that he stepped backwards into the arms of someone solid. He looked up to see the grim face of Lavender, tears falling down her cheeks.

"You weren't supposed to see this, Steven." She said and then everything went black.

* * *

The wind was cutting through the house. A storm forming in their very own living room. Aventurine was the only one silent, as Topaz was screaming and Lavender was sobbing. Neither of them had their eyes open, all lost in Topaz's mind. Cat's Eye and Amethyst were running around the room, they started panicking when Steven started crying out in pain.

Amethyst tried to wake Steven, while Cat sat in Aventurine's lap, crying. Nothing they did worked and after ten grueling minutes of this chaos, it all stopped. Abruptly the screaming, wind, and sobbing was silenced. The only sound in the room was Cat's whimpers and Amethyst's panting.

Aventurine was up and moving before Lavender and Topaz even opened their eyes. Aventurine pulled Steven into her lap, shushing the crying child. Cat was with them, her arms wrapped around Steven's middle.

"I am so sorry, I didn't intend to cast my net so far. You weren't supposed to be there. You weren't supposed to see that." Aventurine was whispering, her hands glitching and her voice shaking.

"What did I just see?" Steven asked.

"...Homeworld is a very scary place for some gems, Steven." Aventurine whispered, "Some gems have room for no error. We have to go above and beyond for our Diamonds, or else we go back to that room."

"Is that what what'll happen if we fail this mission?" Lavender asked from down on the floor. There was a long silence, that no one really wanted to answer.

Topaz slowly slid across the floor, she hesitated, but gently pulled Lavender into her lap. "I'm sorry you had to see that. But, I'm sorry for not telling you earlier."

Lavender wrapped her arms around the bigger gem, hiding her face in her chest. "Why would Homeworld do that? Why would our Diamond do that?"

"Resources are running low." Topaz's voice cracked as she said, "We're a resource."

"So, were you…?"

Topaz looked over to Amethyst, Steven, and Cat. "Come with me."

Instead of waiting for Lavender to stand up, the bigger gem simply picked her up and carried her out of the building. Lavender gasped as a little thrill ran down her body. She wrapped her arms around Topaz's neck and watched her face.

Topaz found them a nice spot on beach, far enough away from Steven's house that no one could see them. She set Lavender down on the soft sand and followed in suit.

"You're gem..." Lavender started as she gently traced her fingers against the hard rock, "It looks fine to me."

Topaz shifted uncomfortably, "Yeah, well, I'm a bit rough around the edges."

Lavender wondered what that had to do with anything, until her finger scratched against the uneven circumference near her skin. "Oh."

"They shaved off the outer bits of us all and then forced those to fuse together. There was a Topaz, she was real messed up, that had parts of all of us in her." Topaz said slowly, digging her fingers into the dirt. "She was gone real quick."

"You're the last of your kind." Lavender said, just as quiet. With pain in her eyes, she looked up to Topaz, "You don't have any sisters."

"Hey, don't give me that look." Topaz said, nudging her, "I'm fine, see?"

"My sisters were mean, but they were still my sisters." Lavender whispered, "They didn't like me because I was 'practically a pearl' and so I got special treatment."

Topaz was quiet for a long moment, simply watching the waves. Slowly, sighed, "This is my first mission. Ever."

"Yeah?" Lavender asked. "This the first time I've ever lead a mission."

"You're not doing too bad." Topaz said smiling down at her.

Lavender blushed, but muttered, "I got us trapped here."

"Cat did that."

"Because I forced us to defuse."

"Cuz I insulted you." Topaz said. A beat, and then, "Sorry about that, by the way."

Lavender shrugged, "I'm used to it."

"We're two big messes, aren't we?" Topaz said, a bittersweet smile on her face. Lavender's eyes fell to Topaz's gem. She never noticed the sharp edges around it. She pressed her cheek against it, wrapping her arms around Topaz's bicep.

"Yeah. But I think we can handle it." She said, looking up to the moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!


	8. Recognition

Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst were watching from across the room as Aventurine and Steven spoke quietly about what he saw. After things had calmed down a bit, Amethyst went to go get the other two, explaining what had happened as they walked back. Pearl appeared very cross about the matter.

"Steven should not be exposed to such violent experimentations from Homeworld." She said.

"He already knows about their experiments, with the cluster and the forced fusion." A shiver ran down Garnet's spine, even though her voice remained calm, "He can handle it. Besides, it's behind us now. There's nothing we can do to change what he saw."

Aventurine reached out and ruffled Steven's hair, causing the boy to laugh and wipe away his tear. Pearl frowned, "I still don't like it. He has enough on his plate without these Homeworld monstrosities giving him nightmares."

"It was an accident, P." Amethyst said, "I was here the whole time. They were just trying to be a better team and make Lavender feel better. Steven only ended up a part of it because… he's Steven."

"He has gotten in trouble entering other people's minds before." Garnet said slowly, "I think this might not even be Aventurine's fault at all."

Pearl squinted at the grey gem who turned and looked at them, her face hidden under her hood, "I don't trust them."

"You don't have to." Garnet said, gesturing for Steven to come over. "Our job is to protect Earth. If they're a threat, then we don't trust them."

Steven waved goodbye to Aventurine and walked up to the gems. Cat Eye followed, her hand in her mouth. "Hey guys. False alarm, everything's okay."

"No, it's not." Garnet said. "What you saw was a very painful and terrifying memory. You shouldn't have been put through it."

Steven shrugged, "Well, yeah, but Aventurine apologized, and I think it might've been a good thing."

"You think it's a good thing that you saw gems get tortuerd and shattered on a Homeworld base?" Amethyst asked, pulling Cat's hand out of her mouth. "How's that work?"

Steven looked back to Aventurine, who was staring out the window, looking at the beach. "Well, it let me know them a bit better. Topaz and Aventurine, they've been through a lot. And I think if I talk to them a bit, and get to know them, they won't want to work for Homeworld anymore."

"Steven." Garnet warned, "It can be very hard for someone to turn away from their leaders, even if they've been hurt by them."

"I know, but," Steven looked back, rubbing his arm, "we've got to try."

"Remember what happened with Ruby?" Pearl said, "we don't want you to get your hopes up again."

"It's different this time." Steven said, "Navy wasn't torchured."

"Try not to say that like it's a good thing." Amethyst suggested. Cat nodded, a mouthful of foot making her cheeks puff out.

Steven scratched the back of his head, "Sorry. You know what I mean though. Navy didn't have any reason to go against Homeworld. These guys do!"

The Crystal Gems all glanced at each other, unsure. It seems like a risk. Lapis and Peridot are an exception to the rule. Gems don't just turn away from Homeworld. That doesn't just happen. But, at Steven's hopeful face, they all relaxed.

"Okay. We'll keep an eye on them." Garnet said, uncrossing her arms.

"But if they do anything to scare you again, we're going to have to intervene." Pearl added, pointing her finger sternly. Steven nodded seriously, accepting the condition.

The front door opened then. Everyone turned to see Lavender and Topaz walking back in. Lavender rubbed her arms, looking up at Topaz with an emotion that Steven couldn't describe. Topaz immediately went over to Aventurine and began to whisper to the grey gem. She was standing far too close. The two didn't seem to understand the phrase "personal space". Lavender found herself standing alone by the door. With the eyes still on her, she blushed and shuffled over to the couch and sat down. Cat watched her, her eyebrow lowering slightly as she observed her friend's expression.

"Don't worry, guys." Steven said, pulling Cat's foot out of her mouth. "Everything will be okay."

* * *

"Gems!" Garnet called, running into the room, "To the warp pad!"

Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven joined her shortly. The Homeworld gems looked at each other. With Purple Tiger Eye not there, the gazes fell to Aventurine to make the call. The grey gem hesitated, but then gestured to Lavender.

"I believe this would be your call." Aventurine said. "You were the one who had the most trouble fighting the ruined gems."

Lavender's eyes grew wide as everyone looked to her. Her heart started beating faster as she looked over to the Suicide Squad, who was waiting for them to hurry up. They're waiting for her to make a choice and, Diamond, she should help out because what if they need it, but she didn't know if she'd be able to do so when she knew that they were other gems, but they're corrupted, so it should be okay, right, but-

A small hand slid itself into hers. Lavender looked down to find Cat smiling encouragingly up at her. Lav took a deep breath and thought about what it feels like to be Tiger Eye. She imagined having that confidence and assurance coursing through her veins. She looked up, breaking eye contact with Cat, and nodded.

"Let's do this." Lavender said. Then looked over to the gems waiting on the warp pad, "If that's okay?"

"Come on!" Steven said, waving them over. Aventurine and Topaz hopped onto the warp pad, but Lavender stopped Cat from climbing up. Cat frowned in confusion for a second, before realization flashed in her eyes. The next thing Lavender knew, she was disappearing from existence.

Tiger stretched her four arms, groaning in appreciation. "Okay, I'm ready!"

The corrupted gems were messy things that could barely keep their form. Aventurine choked on a gasp when she saw them. They were shifting from a glop of moving goo to a spiky sphere with legs. The gems immediately got to work, fighting the monsters.

Tiger Eye summoned her hammer and lunged at the nearest sphere. It dropped to the ground when Tiger swung at them, shifting into a pile of goo. Tiger stumbled to a halt, waving her hammer to keep her balance. Looking up, Topaz was having about the same amount of luck. Aventurine was levitating one of the mooshy piles in the air, keeping it from attacking Steven. Tiger turned to see the monster she was facing, only to find another one joining it.

The two creatures were advancing on her. She stumbled back, raising her hammer. With every heavy thrust and slam she made, the creatures dodged easily. One skittered around her, hiding in her blindspot. Tiger turned sideways, looking between the two monsters that were growling at her.

Tiger's breath caught in her throat. Her hands grew sweaty, knuckles clasping against the hammer's handle. She licked her lips, suddenly unsure about her abilities. This would be only her second fight, even though Cat had a little fighting experience, it wasn't enough to make Lavender feel better.

"Calm down, it'll be okay." Tiger whispered to herself, sidestepping when one of the monsters lunged at her.

"No, no, I don't know what to do, I-" Tiger slipped on a pile of goo, slamming to the ground heavily.

"We were made to fight; to lead. If we just stick together, we'll be okay." She kicked the feet out from under the monster, causing it to crash next to her. "Just relax, we've got this."

Tiger stood up, using her hammer to help herself up, "I- I can't…"

A monster slammed into her side, sending her flying across the room. Tiger groaned as she tumbled across the floor. Memories of whips and pain fog her mind. She tries to forget them, because that's not her, not her life. But it's all too real and she feels her self fading away.

Two different beings slam against the wall; the fission being a violent one that caused more bad than good. Lavender was shaking, tears in her eyes as she stayed down. Experience taught her that if she just accepted the pain, then it would be over quicker.

Cat held up her hammer, much smaller now, and stood before her friend. Determination flashed in her green eye as the monsters approached. Lavender looked up just in time to see the monster raise one sharp, jagged claw. Cat was far too small to do any damage to something like that. Lav screamed out, "NO!"

The next thing she knew, she was on her knees, cradling Cat in her arms. The other gem, for once, didn't pay attention to her. But Lavender refused to watch her friend get poofed. She'd rather be right there with her as it happened.

The monster reared up on its back legs and was about to slam down on them, but then, with a flash of white, there she was. The pearl with the spear. She skidded in front of them, spear raised and, without any hesitation or fear, she slammed her weapon upward into the monster's chest as it feel down. The creature poofed before it ever reached the ground. Pearl caught the gem and bubbled it quickly, turning to Cat and Lavender.

"Are you-" But her voice got caught off as the second monster approached. She returned to her fighting stance, ready to defend them. Topaz ran up to them, her axe nowhere to be seen. Without stopping her pace, she scooped up both of her teammates and carried them to safety.

"If you weren't going to be able to fight, why did you even agree to come?" Topaz hissed, fury in her voice. Lavender was still shaking in her arms, her eyes on Pearl as she single-handedly took down the monster that was far bigger than her.

"I-I'm sorry." Her voice was raw, but distant. Topaz shot her a look, but it went unnoticed. With a sigh, the bigger gem slowed to a stop next to the rest of the teams. Steven was frowning, obviously he saw Tiger's fission. Lavender hid her face behind her long hair. Cat didn't seem to mind much about suddenly being picked up and carried away. She was swinging her hammer over Topaz's shoulder, as if that had helped Pearl.

"Is everyone okay?" The permafusion Garnet asked. She had the courtesy to look around at everybody, but it was clear her question was directed to Lavender.

"Yeah…" She whispered, tucking her head in Topaz's shoulder. Her eyes were still on Pearl as the gem walked back to the group, barely out of breath. "...we're okay."

* * *

It wasn't until after Steven partook in the activity of 'dinner' did someone come up to Lavender. It was Steven himself. The boy sat down on the outdoor patio next to Lavender and stared out at the sea. They were quiet for a few long moments, just feeling the wind in their hair.

"You know, it's not that big of a deal." Steven said, "I used to get scared all the time when I started going on missions. I still get scared, sometimes."

Lavender pulled her legs up against her chest and set her chin on her knees. "I'm not a fighter."

"Me neither. I'm more of a lover. I'd rather we all just get along!" Steven said, his voice somewhat sympathetic.

"No, I mean-" Lavender took a deep breath, "everyone on my team is a soldier. Except for Aventurine, she's a tactician. But even she can still fight. But me? I can't do anything. I can't fight, I don't know how to build a ship to get us home, I can barely lead the team, and even then it's only when Cat is with me. I'm… I'm useless."

Steven frowned, turning to face her more, "Hey, that's not true."

"It is!" That was possibly the loudest Steven had ever heard her be, it made him jump slightly, "I fail every mission I'm on! I'm not a good soldier, I'm not a good gem, I'm not a good Chalondony! My diamond sent me here to die!"

Steven thought for a second, and then asked very quietly, "What are Chalondonies supposed to do?"

Lavender waved her hand dismissively, "What we're told. We're informants. Expensive ones. There's been talk going around for centuries that our Diamonds should just get rid of Chalondonies, since there's cheaper gems that can do our job just as well."

Steven didn't really know what to say to that. He looked out at the water crashing on the waves, "Homeworld doesn't sound that great of a place."

"How could you say that!?" Lavender turned to look at him, fire in her eyes. Steven gulped, leaning away.

"Well, I just mean that," Steven looked down, mashing his fingers together in thought. "It's not the best, uh, place to live, I think."

Lavender watched him for a long moment. Steven could practically hear the gears turning in her head. She squinted and leaned forward, "What kind of gem are you, anyway? I thought you were a human, but you have that gem weapon."

Steven leaned back, sweat forming on the back of his neck, "Well, uh, I'm actually half-gem."

"Half-gem?" Lavender asked, eyes roaming over Steven's small body. "How?"

"I don't know? My mom was a gem and my dad is a human." Steven hesitated and then pulled up his shirt to reveal his belly button gem. "I guess I'm a Rose Quartz?"

Lavender thought for a moment, then, satisfied turned back to the water. "That's strange."

"You're not gonna … attack me?" Steven asked, certainly confused as to how Lavender didn't jump him once he found out who his mother was.

"Should I?" Lavender sighed, "I wouldn't be any good at it."

Steven relaxed. It seemed that Lavender didn't know who Rose Quartz was or what she did. He was sure that she would've shown some sort of recognition at the name if she did. There was a long quiet as Lavender wallowed in self-pity. Steven tried to think of a way to cheer her up, but he wasn't sure how.

He looked up when she broke the silence, "How did you teach your pearl to fight like that?"

"What?" Steven watched as a dark blush formed on her cheeks, her eyes growing distant.

When she spoke next, her voice had a new softness to it that Steven couldn't describe. She spoke so wistfully, her lips gracing a soft smile. "At the battle, she was… fantastic. Confident and… and everything I'm not. How did you do it?"

Steven blinked rapidly, processing the hopeful glint in her eyes, "She taught herself."

"But, she's a pearl." Confusion crossed her face. Then, realization, as bright as the currently setting sun, "She learned so she could protect her master."

She didn't say as a question. To her it was a fact. And Steven couldn't say properly with full confidence that she was wrong. There was certainly that thought in the back of Steven's mind, that Pearl became the warrior she is today because she wanted to be better for his mom. Lavender seems kind of similar to her in that way.

"I wish I could be more like her." Lavender whispered, drawing her knees up to her chest.

Steven put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Well, you could be. But in your own way. My friend Connie is taking sword fighting lessons with Pearl. I'm sure if you ask-"

"Are you sure?!" Lavender was on her knees now, leaning into Steven's personal space her eyes wide, "Are you sure she'll take me? I need to know how to fight, Steven, I have to be better!"

"O-okay! We can ask her!" Steven said, surprised by her sudden passion.

Lavender jumped up from her spot on the patio, "Now? Can we ask her now?"

"Sure?" Steven followed her back into his house. But once they crossed the doorway, Lavender's excitement and energy dissipated. She twirled a strand of hair and looked back to Steven. Her eyes were on the floor, her lip between her teeth.

"Could you, um, could you ask her for me?" She almost whispered. Topaz and Aventurine were sitting on the couch, Cat in between them. They were speaking in low voices over Cat's head. Lavender glanced at them over her shoulder and whipped her head back around so her light green hair flung out behind her. "I'm not very- talking to people, it's not- could you instead- just-"

Steven grabbed her hand gently and nodded, "Don't worry, Lavender. I got you."

Lavender smiled her thanks, her heart warming and slowing as her nerves washed away. "Thank you, Steven."

The two parted ways as Lavender shuffled over to her squadrant and Steven approached the door to the gems' rooms. He was going to just knock on the door and see what happened, but, coincidentally, Pearl walked out as he neared.

"Steven, you should be getting to bed soon." Pearl chided.

"I know. But Lavender and I were talking," Steven started, "And she'd like to start training with Connie. If you'll teach her."

Pearl looked over to the weakest link of the Homeworld gems. She was giggling at something Cat Eye was saying, while Topaz looked exasperated and Aventurine was unreadable as ever. Pearl pulled a face, "I'm not sure."

"Please!" Steven said, "She just wants to be like you!"

"Oh, that I can tell." Pearl muttered. It wasn't that hard to notice that Lavender and Pearl looked a bit alike. Their gems were both on their forehead and even were similar shapes. They had the same body type, and Lavender even acted like a Pearl at times. But they were also very different. Steven didn't see why everyone was so caught up on how Lavender looked, he tried to ignore the comment as Pearl continued, "But I don't think teaching the enemy how to fight will be a good idea."

"She's not the enemy." Steven said, "She's just scared, and wants to be better for her team!"

"Her team that works for the Diamonds." Pearl added, quiet but stern. "Steven, I just don't think it would be wise to-"

"She didn't react." Steven interrupted.

"What?"

Steven sighed and rubbed his hand over his stomach. "When I talked about mom. She didn't react. I don't think she knows who Rose is, or what she did. I don't think she cares."

Pearl blinked at him, her mind racing, "I thought everyone from Homeworld knew about Rose."

"Not these guys. Cat told me she has never left her room. Topaz and Aventurine were made just before this mission. And Lavender clearly didn't recognize mom's name. I don't think they know about her." Steven said seriously, "I don't think they'd hurt us."

"Not at first, perhaps." Pearl started slowly, "but once they think they have a chance…"

"Pearl!" Steven said, a hint of a whine in his voice, "Please? It would make her happy!"

Pearl looked over Steven's head to see the gem in question. She was now holding Cat Eye, smiling down at the other gem's face. She glanced up and suddenly the two were maintaining eye contact. The smile fell from Lavender's face slowly, like it was unsure if it even had the right to be there. Pearl was sure she was going to regret this, but there was a look in Lavender's eyes that reminded her of herself. She knew what it felt like to be useless. She knew how heavy that sat in a heart. Slowly, Pearl nodded.

"Okay." She said, more to herself than to Steven, "I'll do it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!


	9. Lavearl

"You want to do _what_?" Peridot crossed her arms, scowling at the gem that no more than a day ago was attacking her.

"I believe I spoke clearly enough?" Aventurine turned to Topaz. It wasn't a condescending tone; she genuinely seemed to hope she said the right thing. Topaz wrapped an arm around her, nodding in encouragement.

"It wasn't a matter of miscommunication. I'm just wondering why you think it's okay for you to come to my home and demand my services." Peridot scowled at the pair.

Topaz blinked, her brows lowering in irritation, "Because your leader, the permafusion, said you would."

Peridot looked over to Garnet, who was sitting on a barrel of hay, watching the clouds. She huffed in annoyance, but uncrossed her arms, "Fine. What do you need?"

"The long-term goal would be a ship strong enough to take us back to Homeworld." Topaz said, smiling gently, "But for now, we'll settle for a communicator."

"The one on the moon base has been mysteriously destroyed." Aventurine added.

Peridot laughed awkwardly, too loud and too forced. "What? Really? That's strange! Hey, look, it's Steven and Pearl!"

Topaz looked over to see the two walking up to them. Pearl rubbed her forehead, "Garnet saw it in our best interest to help you make the communicator."

"Great." Topaz grinned, "Let me know when you need me to lift something."

With that, she sauntered off, leaving Aventurine with the other technicians. She approached Lavender and Cat, who were sitting by a fence. Cat was rolling around in the dirt, excited about a small bug she found. Lavender watched her, smiling softly at the smaller gem's antics.

Topaz sat down on the ground next to Lavender, who stiffened slightly at the brush of their shoulders. "So, the plan is a communicator first. Check in with our Diamond. Then a ship to get us off this rock before the Cluster emerges. That sound good with our fearless leader?"

Lavender blinked rapidly, "Me?"

"Well, yeah. You're the better half of the fusion." Topaz laughed as Cat accidently swallowed her new bug friend.

"O-oh, hey, thanks!" Lavender looked away to hide her blush. "Yeah, that sounds fine with me."

"Great." Topaz leaned back against the fence, watching as Aventurine, Peridot, and Pearl argued over the necessary parts for their new project. The two sat in silence, just soaking in the sun. It wasn't until Lapis ventured out of the barn with Amethyst at her side, did Topaz mutter, "There's a lot of gems here."

"Hmm?" Lavender looked up at her, then glanced at the crew by the barn. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Isn't it weird that our Diamond would be okay with all these useful gems getting destroyed in the Cluster's emergence? I mean, with all the… _things_ they've done to make our resources last…" She brushed her fingers over her own gem, feeling the chipped sides scrape her skin. "It doesn't make much sense."

Lavender shrugged, "Well, they volunteered..."

"But _why_ , though? The pearl, I understand." Topaz said, gesturing to her, "Just following orders. Or maybe to impress her master. And the Amethyst is small; but so am I. I wouldn't stay here just because of my deformity. And the others? There's nothing wrong with them at all. Why would they stay?"

"I haven't really thought of it." Lavender said, her gaze shifting over each gem slowly. "Maybe they all have their own reasons. I mean, I'm not sure I would be completely opposed to staying…"

"What?!" Topaz jerked forward, turning to look at her.

Lavender almost swallowed her tongue, "I just mean- it's not that bad here, and there's plenty of other gems, and their leader is so kind-"

"Oh." Topaz's gaze darkened slightly, "You're scared."

"Well, of course I'm scared!" Lavender hissed. Her expression fell slightly and she looked down at her hands, "I mean… after what you told me… If I go back, and we don't have any new gems with us, what's stopping my Diamond from harvesting me?"

"I am." Topaz replied instantly.

Lavender looked up at her, her heart pounding suddenly, "What?"

"I'm stopping our Diamond. I won't let that happen to you. Or anyone else." Topaz almost growled, "What they made me do, what they did to me- I won't let that happen to you." Her gaze softened, and she smiled as she added, quietly, "You don't have to be afraid anymore."

"O-okay." Lavender smiled shyly at the other.

* * *

Pearl was standing on the warp pad, waiting for her. Lavender crossed the room at a quick walk, smiling gratefully at her new instructor.

"Hey, Lav." Topaz called before Lavender could make it to the warp pad. "We're going to work on the communicator. Want to tag along?"

Lavender hesitated, "Actually, I'm going to be spending the evening with Pearl."

Topaz frowned, sharing a look with Aventurine, "Um… why?"

"W-why not?" Lavender replied, "I'd like to spend time with her a bit. That's all."

The taller gem glanced between Lavender and Pearl, her face hardening slightly. "Fine."

Aventurine stepped out of the way just as Topaz practically hurled herself out of the building. Cat followed her, apparently oblivious to the other's emotions. Aventurine looked back at them; her face, as always, hidden behind the hood of her cloak.

"Tread lightly," Aventurine warned. Then, in the blink of an eye, she vanished. Lavender sighed, turning back to Pearl who gave her a knowing look.

"So, this is a secret?" Pearl asked, not unkindly.

"For now…" Lavender replied, unable to keep eye contact. "I don't want them to…"

"Stop you?" Pearl supplied. Lavender nodded as she stepped up on the warp pad. Pearl smiled, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder, "I know _exactly_ how that feels."

Lavender's smile spread warmly across her face, "Thank you."

Once they reached their training ground, some old ruins, Lavender looked around. She swirled in a circle, her long hair flaring out behind her. "Diamond! This must've been something in the olden days."

"Were you alive then? During the war?" Pearl asked, watching with amusement.

"No, ma'am." Lavender replied, "I was created shortly after the war for Earth ended. Were you? Did you fight against the revolutionists?"

Pearl hummed, "Something like that. So, are you the oldest of your squadron, then?"

"No, actually. Topaz and Aventurine are Era Two gems. So I'm older than them. I'm an Era One Chalcedony. But Cat Eye is actually the oldest of us all; if you'd believe it."

"It wouldn't be my first guess." Pearl smiled and Lavender laughed.

"She is a bit, um, different. But she actually was formed first. I don't think she knows anything about much of anything, though. Ever since she was formed, she spent her life in a room with tons of other Chrysoberyls. All of them like her. They never leave. They never learn…" Lavender spaced out slightly, thinking of all the happy, carefree memories she gathered from her time fused with Cat.

Pearl sighed, "Well, not everyone can have it that easy. And that's why we're here, right?"

"Right." Lavender agreed, focusing on the gem before her.

"Now, you don't have a weapon, do you?" Pearl started.

"You noticed that?" Lavender blushed, looking away. "No, Chalcedonies don't have weapons."

Pearl smiled reassuringly, "That's alright. You can borrow one of mine."

Lavender watched as Pearl pulled a long sword from her gem and held it out to her carefully. Lavender gently picked it up, surprised by its weight. She took a deep breath and then nodded to Pearl.

"Alright, everything begins with your stance."

* * *

Topaz smiled down at Lavender after explaining the basics of the game. "Steven says it's called football. We're going to play on the beach."

"I am already well informed of the technicians of the activity and shall destroy you all." Aventurine told her calmly from her spot next to Topaz.

"That's great, guys." Lavender grinned, "I love that you're learning more about this planet's soon-to-be deceased culture!"

"You should play with us." Topaz said, nudging her. Her eyes shined with excitement and hope. "Steven said there's a lot of running, and I'd want you on my team."

Lavender blinked in surprise, "Oh, well, I'd love to, but, I'm spending my evening with Pearl."

Topaz's shoulders sunk, "Again?"

"Yes…" Lavender was already backing away as Pearl stepped out of her temple door. "I'm sorry. I'll join in on this game later, though, okay?"

Topaz growled as she turned away and muttered, "Fine. I'll see if Amethyst will be on my team."

Aventurine watched Lavender, like a ghost haunting her, as she climbed onto the warp pad with Pearl. Lav shuddered when the beam engulfed them.

"Don't worry so much about them. They'll understand soon." Pearl encouraged.

"Right…"

* * *

It's not always fighting. Usually, yes, they practice sword fighting. But sometimes, the two just hang out. Lavender found she has a lot in common with the other gem. The more she finds out about Pearl, the more she looks up to her. A pearl that learned how to fight? Unheard of. And then fought _in a war_? Lavender sometimes has to remind herself that this is real.

Sometimes when Pearl is about to leave with Steven to go into town, she takes Lavender with her. This is how Lav met the humans that found Cat Eye. She can see Cat's memory of running up to them now, if she remembers from when they were Purple Tiger Eye. But the female of the group looks slightly different from what Cat's memory supplies. After close investigation, Lavender decided it was her hair.

Lavender got up the nerve to ask, somewhat too loud, "What happened to your hair?"

Jenny looked over at her, stopping her conversation with Steven, "Hmm? Oh, I had Kiki braid it last night. It took forever. But don't it look good?"

Lavender frowned, "Braided?"  
"Yeah, here, lemme show you." With that the human stepped close to her and gathered three strands of Lavender's light turquoise hair. As she twisted the strands, Jenny mumbled to herself, "You gems always have the weirdest hair colors."

"It's a perk." Steven said, grinning when Jenny snorted.

After a second, Jenny stepped away, "Tada! What'd'you think?"

Lavender looked down at the braid that was laid over her shoulder. Her fingers brushed up and down the loose twists. "What is the purpose of this…?"

"Well, it's cute." Jenny said, "And I gotta look good for my boys."

Sour Cream and Buck grinned at her, giving her thumbs ups. Lavender's eyes widened, "This attracts mates?!"

"Uh-" Jenny gave her a funny look, "I guess?"

Lavender looked to Pearl, a hopeful smile on her face, "Will you give the rest of my hair a braid?"

Pearl nodded, "Sure, of cour-"

Lavender didn't wait for her to finish. Instead, she pulled her friend back towards Steven's house, the half-gem running after them. The humans watched them for a moment, before Jenny called out, "Tell Cat I said 'hi'!"

* * *

When Topaz comes into the half-gem Steven's home, she stops at the sight before her. Lavender was practically in Pearl's lap, laughing at something the other said. Pearl's fingers wove through Lavender's hair, twisting it into a long French braid.

Steven and Cat were there too. Cat was putting flowers in Steven's hair, grabbing puffs of the small boy's fro and putting them into smaller puffs. Steven handed Pearl a flower, who smiled and brushed Lavender's bangs gently away. She laced the flower behind Lavender's ear; chuckling at the soft smile Lavender gave her.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" Topaz asked, watching with a gross feeling of disgust in her stomach as Pearl's fingers brushed against Lavender's gem.

"Oh! Topaz!" Lavender turned to look at her, her eyes wide. Topaz watched as she gracefully pulled herself up off the couch, her fingers dancing along her newly braided hair. She looked back at Pearl, who smiled encouragingly, "H-how are you?"

"What have you done to your hair?" Topaz asked, glaring slightly at the Pearl that did it.

Lavender licked her lips, "Do you like it?"

That caught Topaz off guard. She looked over her friend's face, now that it wasn't hidden behind the long strands. Even when it was braided, the hair went just past ribs. She looked fantastic, and isn't it strange that just one little change about her made Topaz's heart jump?

Instead of answering, she said, "Why did you change it?"

She watched as Lavender scuffed her boots against the floor. She glanced over at Cat and Steven. Twiddling her fingers over her hair, she said quietly, "...I wanted to be pretty."

Topaz sighed, stepping close to the other gem. "Lav, you already were pretty."

Lavender's face lit up, a dark blush forming on her cheeks, "Wait-really?!"

"Of course." Topaz said, pulling the flower from behind her ear and placing it in Lavender's shaking hand. "You're a Chalcedony."

Like a bucket of cold water on a flame, the smile fell off of Lavender's face. In its place was the deepest scowl Topaz had ever seen on Lavender's face. The smaller gem stepped back, shoving the flower in Topaz's hand.

"Pearl." She said stiffly, "You said you had something to show me in your room?"

Pearl looked confused for a second, before she realized what was happening and jumped up from the couch, "Yes, of course! Right this way!"

She looped her arm with Lavender's and led the gem away from Topaz and towards the temple. Topaz flinched as the door slammed shut behind them; which she's never seen it do before.

"Was it something I said?" Topaz joked, but when neither Steven nor Cat cracked a smile, she frowned at them.

"Honestly? Yes." Steven said.

"What?"

Despite the serious expression on Steven's face, he looked pretty ridiculous with all the flowers in his uneven hair. Steven patted the couch cushion next to him and Topaz sighed and sunk into the seat. Cat saw that as an opportunity to sit in her lap and play with her hair. Topaz wanted to push her off, but if Lav found out, she'd be even _more_ mad at her.

"You said she was pretty." Steven said, "As a _Chalcedony_."

"Yes. Everyone knows they're the third prettiest gem. Only behind our Diamonds and pearls." Topaz said, "It was a compliment!"

Steven thought about it for a second, "Okay, well, for humans, that would be like saying, 'You're pretty for a European.' Or something. It's not...good."

"I don't understand." Topaz said, swatting away the flower Cat tried to put in her hair. "Is that not kind?"

Steven sighed, "Okay, well, how about Pearl. Do you think she's prettier than Lavender?"

"No." Topaz answered immediately. "But she's not _my_ pearl, she wasn't made for _my_ tastes."

"But you just said that Pearls are prettier than Chalcedonies." Steven countered.

"They are." Topaz agreed.

"Says who?" Steven asked.

"Stays… everyone. It's just a fact. Lavender is pretty because she's a Chalcedony. That's it. It's divine law." Topaz almost snarled as she muttered it. "There are gems made to be pretty and there are gems made to work. She's a pretty gem. I'm a working gem."

Steven took a deep breath, "Try to think of her as a person, not a gem. Would she still be pretty if she wasn't a Chalcedony?"

Topaz blinked, imagining Lavender as a Jasper. Or an Agate. What if she still looked the same? What if she came out wrong for her class; shorter, a lot thinner, with straight hair and freckles? Would she still be the gorgeous gem she is right now? The answer made Topaz shake her head, a flush forming up her neck.

"I don't know." She said dismissively. "Why does it matter? She's pretty. She's a Chalcedony. There's nothing to be upset about!"

The small creature in her lap spoke up then. Apparently, she was paying attention the entire time, "Miss Lavender wants to be known for who she is. Not what she is. Her sisters were very mean to her; and a part of her doesn't want to really be associated with them anymore. She wants to be a pretty girl. Not a pretty gem."

"Oh, and you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" Topaz said, because she doesn't know how to wrap her mind around the fact that she's being lectured by Cat's Eye of all people.

"I do." Cat said, "I feel it. When we fuse." Cat smiled up at her, her one eye squinting as her chubby cheeks brightened.

Topaz looked over at the temple door. "I didn't mean to insult her. I just thought… she knew she was pretty."

Steven shrugged, "Well, maybe apologize when she comes out, and explain it to her."

Topaz scoffed, but couldn't deny that that was a pretty sound plan. She couldn't get the look Lavender gave her of utter disappointment out of her mind. How could someone's smile fall so quickly? How could she be the one to cause that?

And, perhaps, more interestingly, what was the strange feeling she felt in her chest when she had that smile directed at her?

* * *

Topaz jumped up from the couch when Lavender emerged from the temple. By now both Steven and Cat's Eye fell asleep. She walked towards Lavender, arms reaching forward, the words on her lips.

"Lav-"

"I do not wish to discuss it." Lavender hissed bitterly.

Topaz flinched at the look she gave her. Diamond, this small being could be terrifying, even to a quartz gem, when she wanted to be. Topaz took a deep breath, "I wanted to explain myself."

"That's not necessary." Lavender clipped, keeping her gaze away from the other gem. Topaz huffed and grabbed Lavender, easily hoisting her off her feet.

"L-let me go!" Lavender gasped, her face immediately exploding into a dark blush. Topaz held her tighter, not giving into her squirming.

"No, I want to talk about this." Topaz said, "I have something I need to say."

Lavender twisted her body, wrapping a leg around Topaz's shoulder, using the momentum to backflip out of Topaz's grip. She landed low to the ground, her braid over her shoulder. When did she learn to do that?

"Lav…?" Topaz shifted forward as Lavender stood up slowly.

The two stared at each other for a long moment. Who knows how long it truly was? All Topaz knows is that there was a fury of emotions dancing in Lavender's eyes. And she certainly didn't like that closed off expression she was giving her.

Garnet was the one who broke the staring contest. She stepped out of the temple with Pearl and Amethyst at her sides. "We're going on a mission. Would you like to join us."

"I'd love to." Lavender muttered with faked enthusiasm. Topaz nodded wordlessly as she stumbled after her. They didn't bother waking Steven or Cat. Nor did they alert Aventurine, who was spending the night at the barn. Topaz certainly noticed that Lavender stood far too closely to Pearl as they warped to their destination.

There was only one corrupted gem creature. But it was the biggest one Topaz has ever seen. It was a serpent-like creature with large fangs and three tails. Topaz instinctively stepped in front of Lavender.

"Stay behind me," She said as she pulled out her axe.

Lavender actually scoffed at her! Topaz was so surprised, she didn't even move as Lavender used her as a trampoline. Lav jumped on her shoulder and then launched herself at the gem creature without a second thought.

Amethyst whistled in appreciation, "Who pissed her off?"

Pearl scowled at her for the language, summoning a sword quickly. She threw it in the air, and smiled pridefully as Lavender twisted to catch it before her feet even touched the monster's back.

Topaz realized that everyone else had joined the fight by now. She frowned at herself and rushed into the action, taking on two of the three tails. Topaz sliced off one of the tail with her axe easily, but that made the monster screech and turn to attack her. One tail wrapped around her, holding her in the air. Topaz raised her ax, but it was swatted away by another tail. Fear struck through Topaz as the creature opened its large, toothy mouth.

A flash of blue. Lavender had jumped into the monster's mouth, hanging onto a tooth with one hand, the other threw her sword deep into the monster's throat, cutting up the muscles there.

The creature screamed and Lavender jumped backwards, out of the mouth of the monster. The thing let go of Topaz and she fell to the floor, grunting in pain as she hit it. The monster crashed down next to her, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

Topaz coughed into her fist, waving the dust away with one hand. She looked up as the dust started to clear a bit and there, almost a shadowy figure, stood Lavender. The gem reached down and ripped the gem out of the monster's neck; causing it to poof with a screech of pain.

Topaz sat on all fours, looking up at the gem she once thought she'd have to protect. Lavender's hard gaze locked with hers for a second and the message was clear. She didn't need protection anymore. Certainly not from Topaz.

Some gems, it seemed, could be both a pretty gem and a working gem.

* * *

"You want me to fight a fusion?!" Lavender squeaked, almost dropping her sword. "I-I'm not sure, Pearl…"

"You've improved greatly. And Stevonnie is no ordinary fusion. They'll be able to test you, while still be able to know when you need to stop." Pearl said, stopping her pacing to look down at Lavender, "I believe in you, Lavender. You can do this."

Lavender blushed at the words, looking away from her teacher, "O-okay."

* * *

"Lav, hey, I, uh, wanted to know if you wanted to-" Topaz started, scratching the back of her neck nervously.

"I'm so sorry," Lavender interrupted, "I actually have to do something with Pearl right now. Um, can I have a thunder check? Steven said that was a thing."

She quickly sidestepped around Topaz, heading towards the warp pad. The breath was suddenly sucked out of her when two strong hands wrapped around her hips and lifted her into the air. Her heart started pounding rapidly in her chest and she felt her throat tighten.

"Oh, no. You are not leaving me again for _her_!" Topaz said, "We're talking about this!"

"A-ab-bout what?" Lavender gasped, her face bright blue with a blush.

Topaz scowled at her, "About how you're avoiding me!"

"I'm n-not avoiding you!" Lavender whined.

"You are! Ever since I said that thing at the barn." Topaz blushed slightly at the mention of it, "I haven't been able to get near you since then. You're always with Pearl. And then I guess I made you mad with the hair thing. So then you practically disappeared off the face of the earth. And I'm sorry about that, I guess."

Lavender started shaking with the strange feeling in her gem at being held in the air, "I-I-I can't continue th-this conversation until you put me down."

Topaz gave her a strange look, but slowly set her down on the ground. She took a deep breath, and then continued, "Look, when there's a problem with the team, we talk about it. We work to fix the problem. For the good of the mission. So, here I am, talking about the issue." She closed her eyes, running a hand over her face, "And this is really hard for me, so could you cut me some slack?"

When there wasn't a reply, Topaz opened her eyes and looked around. Lavender was nowhere to be seen. The other gem just disappeared. Anger and humiliation swirled inside Topaz. With a furious growl, she slammed her fists on the countertop, screaming, "DAMMIT!"

* * *

 

"I'm sorry I'm late, Pearl." Lavender said, stepping into the ruins. "Topaz had tried to stop me."

"That's fine. Is everything okay?" Pearl asked, concern in her voice.

"Yeah, she's just… upset. About this." Lavender gestured around them.

Pearl raised an eyebrow, "You told her?"

"No." Lavender said, "Don't worry about it. It's nothing. So, where's this fusion?"

A voice from behind them said, "I'm right here."

The fusion looked familiar, but Lavender wasn't sure how. Then, her eyes caught sight of the rose quartz gem in their belly button. "Steven? You can fuse?"

"Yeah! It's really cool!" Stevonnie grinned wildly. "Ready to fight?"

"You haven't told anyone else about this?" Lav asked as she took the sword from Pearl.

Pearl shook her head, "Steven, now his friend Connie, and I'm sure Garnet knows."

"Well, of course. She's your leader, she should know what her Pearl is doing." Lavender said casually, stepping away and up to Stevonnie.

"Right." Pearl deadpanned. She sighed and then said, "Alright, now, Stevonnie, don't go easy on her. She's trained well. I'll give the call when to stop."

Lavender turned to look at Stevonnie, just to have to duck out of the way at the last second. The fusion didn't give her a chance to get ready. Lavender twisted, keeping her back away from them. She rose her sword, staying light on her feet. As Stevonnie lunged at her, she blocked with her sword. They're stronger than her, so they were able to push her back. Lav stumbled, but was able to grab their wrist and slide between them and their shield. In the blink of an eye, Lavender had her sword's blade against Stevonnie's neck.

Even though the fusion was sweating, they didn't seem worried as they backed away from the sword. Lavender followed them; keeping the blade against their skin. Stevonnie suddenly pulled away and ducked low to the ground, sweeping their leg out to kick Lavender's feet out from under her. She crashed to the floor, her sword scattering against the the old tiles, out of her reach.

Stevonnie grinned down at her, pointing their sword down at her. Lavender was breathing hard, her heart racing as she looked up into the fusion's eyes. She watched as they blinked out of their fighting mindspace. Bingo.

Lav reached up and grabbed thier wrist and then dropped her body weight, what little she has, and watched as their sword fell out of their grip. She scrambled for it; picking it up as she got to her feet. She turned in a circle, pointing the large pink sword at them. Stevonnie blinked in surprise and held up their shield.

Lavender took a second to just breathe; thinking of her next move. Stevonnie stole the decision from her, charging at her with their shield between them. Lavender squeaked and swung her sword, making it clang loudly against the shield. Stevonnie then smirked, and suddenly a giant pink bubble formed around them and the sword. It pushed against Lavender with such an intense force it sent her flying away from them; the sword dropped at their feet.

Stevonnie picked up the sword, huffing in self-satisfaction. They flipped their hair over their shoulder and looked up to see where Lavender landed.

They looked.

And looked.

And looked.

Lavender was completely gone. Stevonnie turned back to Pearl, who appeared equally worried. Pearl jumped down into the area, skidding to a stop next to Stevonnie.

"Did you see where she fell?" Stevonnie asked, fear clear in their voice. "Did-did she fall off the edge? Can she fly?"

"No, she can't." Pearl said grimly as she approached the edge of the floating ruins. She couldn't see anything. And she didn't hear screaming. What if she was knocked out? What if she poofed? Oh, stars, oh, stars, oh-

"LAVENDER!" Stevonnie shouted, their sword and shield forgotten as they ran around the ruins; looking under every crumbled pillar.

"Yes?"

Pearl and Stevonnie jumped, whirling around to look at a very calm, very safe Lavender Chalcedony standing behind them. She blinked at them innocently, concerned at the panic on their faces.

"What the hell was that!?" Stevonnie shouted, throwing their hands up, "Where'd you go?! You just- just-"

"Disappeared?" Lavender asked, smiling apologetically.

"Oh!" Pearl gasped realization dawning on her.

"What?" Stevonnie said, looking over as Lavender held out her hand. They watched as Lav slowly made each finger turn invisible. They stood in awed silence as the gem's whole arm disappeared completely from sight.

Lavender spoke quietly, her eyes thoughtful, "I don't like using it. Chalcedonies don't have a weapon because we're informants. We turn invisible so we can get information others couldn't…"

"THAT'S AWESOME!" Stevonnie shouted, pulling Lavender into a tight hug. "Oh my god, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen!"

"Truely?" Lavender asked in disbelief. She watched as Stevonnie clumsily found her invisible hand, holding it tightly.

"Oh, yeah. Truly truly!" Then Stevonnie pulled her even closer, almost touching noses with her, and whispered, "Imagine the hide-n-seek!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!


	10. A Close Call

With the warm sun slowly hiding behind the clouds, the afternoon was shifting into the evening. Steven stood up, dusting his hands off on his jeans to look up at the dark clouds that were rolling in.

"Tut tut, looks like rain!" He said, turning to the gems clustered around the machine they were still attempting to build. "We should probably move this inside so it doesn't get wet."

The Homeworld gems stopped, turning to look at him with various levels of confusion. Topaz was the one who asked, "What is a rain?"

Steven opened his mouth to reply, but Peridot jumped up excitedly, waving her hand in his face, "Oh! Oh! Can I explain it!?"

"Uh, sure." Steven smiled as Peridot cleared her throat and turned to the other gems.

"This planet regurgitates its water in an endless cycle. It transfers the molecules from the ground up to the sky, just to fall back to the ground again!" The small green gem started laughing as she said, "It's essentially redundant and pointless!"

"So, water just falls from the sky?" Topaz asked, squinting in confusion. "Who tells it to?"

"Sometimes Lapis." Peridot shrugged. "Otherwise it's just the mechanical fundamentals of this planet."

There was a low roll of thunder in the distance. Steven started walking towards the barn, "You'll be able to see in a few minutes. For now, come inside."

Everyone moved their tools and projects into the barn. Aventurine continued working on the communicator while everyone else engaged in listening to Peridot explain more about Earth's weather. Soon, the first little _pat pat pat_ s of rain could be heard from outside. Steven led them to the open barn door, and gestured to the falling liquid.

"That's rain."

"Is it dangerous?" Lavender asked.

"Let's find out." Topaz muttered, picking up Cat's Eye and tossing her into a small puddle.

Lav gasped and glared at her companion, "Topaz!"

"What? She's fine." Topaz said, pointing to the gem that was splashing in the muddy water now. Topaz glanced over at Steven, "...Right?"

"Right!" Steven howled as he ran out into the rain to splash Cat. "Join us!"

Peridot straightened up, seemingly proud of herself, "Go ahead. I've already experienced this natural phenomenon first hand. The rain is not harmful to gems."

Topaz slowly stepped out into the rain, blinking the droplets of water away. She ran a hand through her bangs, pushing them off her forehead. She pulled her hand away from her damp hair and looked down at it with a curious expression. Slowly, she turned to Lavender, who was still in the safety of the barn.

"It kinda feels… nice." She told the other gem. Lavender blinked as Topaz held out her hand. Slowly, Lavender took it and allowed herself to be coerced into the rain. The smaller gem gasped as the drops landed on her gem. She shuddered as they rolled down her nose and across her chin.

"Take off your gloves." Topaz instructed. "You're always so covered up."

That's certainly true. Lavender wears a full body outfit that starts just below her jaw and ends at her toes. Chalcedonies aren't made to be flashy. Meanwhile Topaz's arms are always showing and her shorts stop by her knees. While not skimpy, it's also not modest. Purple Tiger Eye is probably the skimpiest out of the team. She doesn't fear showing too much skin.

Lavender dissipated her gloves, shortening her sleeves to end near her elbows. The water landed softly on her pale blue hands. She cupped them and watched as a small pool started to form.

"This is… extraordinary." Lavender sighed, dropping her hands to watch the pool fall to the ground. She looked up at the grey clouds and giggled when rain got in her eyes. "What a strange planet."

"Lav," Topaz said after a few minutes of just feeling the thick raindrops fall on their skin, "You kept your hair like that."

Lavender looked up, her hands instinctively sliding down her braid to fiddle with the strands. "Oh, yeah… I like it better like this."

"I do too. It's pretty." Topaz said quietly, she was quick to add, "and not just because you're a Chalcedony!"

A dark blush slowly spread across Lavender's cheeks, "T-thanks."

Topaz sighed in relief, "Um, if it wasn't clear, I'm sorry I upset you the other day. It… wasn't my intention."

Lavender smiled shyly up at the other gem, "I forgive you."

"Great." The tension melted out of Topaz's shoulders. Until a chubby gem jumped on her back, smearing mud across her.

"Guys, I love rain! I love how it makes my hair wet and look the dirt is heavy now! Steven said that heavy dirt is called mud and I love the mud! Steven and I made a mud pie and he said you're not supposed to eat them, but I did anyway." Cat jabbered as she crawled up Topaz's shoulders and smeared a muddy hand across Topaz's cheek.

"I'm gonna shatter her." Topaz muttered.

"That's not nice," Cat said, now crawling down Topaz's chest back to the ground, "but you know what is nice? The mud! On my toeses! You should play in the mud with me, Topaz! It's super fun and it might make you feel good, too!"

Topaz groaned as Cat pulled her with two muddy hands. "Lav, can you…?"

She stopped her complaint when she saw the absolute adoration in her friend's eyes. That little brat was enjoying this! Topaz huffed and quickly grabbed Lavender by the hand and dragged her into the mud with them.

"H-hey!"

"If I gotta babysit, so do you."

"That's not fair!"

"Yaaaay! Everyone's gonna play!"

* * *

A lot of their time is spent trying to fix up the communicator. Aventurine is the most insistent at the task, constantly in the barn with Peridot, working on finding the right frequencies.

"It's going to be extraordinarily rudimentary." Peridot huffed, looking down at what appeared to be a pile of metal. "Maybe if we took some parts from the Kindergarten again, it would be functional."

The whole happened to be there at the time that Peridot suggested it. Steven perked up from his spot next to Garnet, "The Kindergarten? But we don't need a drill this time."

"No, but if we use the signal beam from the observatory under the Kindergarten, we might be able to recalibrate it to function for our purposes." Peridot said thoughtfully. When Steven just gave her a confused stare, she clarified, "The room where you first found the forced fusions."

"OH!" Steven jumped up, "I know where that is!"

"It's worth a shot. If not there then the radio from Centapeedle's ship." Pearl added, crossing her arms.

Peridot scoffed, "Please, the Kindergarten's signal beam would be _far_ more effective than that rundown space garbage."

Pearl huffed, "We'll consider that one Plan B, then."

"So, we're going back to the Kindergarten?" Amethyst asked, stretching lazily. "It's been awhile since I got to see my old sitting rock."

"There's no point in all of us going." Pearl said, "Amethyst, you and Steven can go. You'll be looking for a computer chip with blue wires coming out of the sides. It'll be about this big and connected to a square-like compartment."

She projected a hologram of what the signal beam looks like using her gem. Amethyst and Steven nodded along; mentally preparing for the search and retrieve.

Aventurine's voice echoed around the barn, without looking up from what she was doing, "Topaz, go with them. In case they get into any trouble."

"Don't worry, we got this." Amethyst said, "There's nothing in the Kindergarten I can't handle."

"I insist." Aventurine looked up, not that it made a difference, considering her face was hidden behind her white hood. "In the meantime, Lavender, come learn a thing or two about radio waves."

Lavender and Topaz shared a look, but the smaller gem nodded and sat down next to Aventurine, looking at what her fingers were doing. Topaz followed Amethyst and Steven out of the barn.

* * *

Topaz's gaze drifted up the tall canyon walls, the hair on the back of her neck sticking at the sight of the abandoned drills. The empty holes that once held gems now looked ominous in the evening light.

"Amethyst, this is where you were formed?" Topaz asked, brushing a hand against a large rock.

"Yeah. I, uh, stayed here until Garnet and Pearl found me." Amethyst carefully let out any information of Rose Quartz. "My hole is over that way."

Topaz sighed softly, "I wish I knew where my hole is."

Steven stopped walking and turned around to look at her, "What do you mean? You're from Homeworld, right?"

"It's complicated, half-gem." Topaz rubbed the back of her neck. "See, the gems from my kindergarten were, well," She glanced at Amethyst, hoping for a help with the wording, "...taken. Shortly after we were formed. I never saw my sisters until… afterwards."

Steven's eyes widened with realization, "Once you came out of the ground, they poofed you. And then you went to the room with that Prehnite and Bismuth."

"Yeah." Topaz muttered, pushing past Steven. "And then... stuff happened. And now I'm the last Era Two topaz."

Amethyst spoke up then, "I thought I was the only Alpha Kindergarten Amethyst." Topaz looked back at her, "I hadn't ever met my sisters until a while ago. We visited the Human Zoo, and they're all there. I discovered I wasn't actually alone."

Topaz blinked rapidly, "Those Amethysts are your family?"

Amethyst nodded, "You met them?"

"We stopped at the Human Zoo to gain research on humans." Topaz said, looking over to Steven, "The Amethysts were different than you, though."

Amethyst bristled, "Yeah, I've heard that before. I came out wrong; I'm too small."

To everyone's surprise, Topaz laughed, "You and me both! Do I look like a quartz soldier to you? My Diamond was so disappointed with my size, she put me as Aventurines' personal guard for life."

Steven scratched his head, "Well, you're still big-ish. And we've never seen a Topaz before. We thought you were just normal sized."

"Diamond, no." Topaz giggled, "But it's not like I share that kind of thing often. Homeworld knows who I am, whether I tell them or not."

Amethyst snorted, more relaxed now, "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"When there's only one of a kind, you take notice. Even if that one is defective." Topaz said, "Everyone knew the small Topaz that followed around the Aventurines. She was the one who-" She cut herself off suddenly, her gaze darkening with flashes of her past. "Well, she was the one who did some … noteworthy things."

Amethyst and Steven shared a look; curious, but not willing to pry. Soon they found the panel that slid away to the slanted tunnel. They slid down the slope and found themselves in the large green information hub. Topaz whistled at the sight of the large screen.

"Okay, so last time Peridot had me open that panel over there." Steven said, pointing to the hole in the wall with wires and electronics poking out of it. "I bet that's where this signal beam thingy would be."

Amethyst and Steven poked their heads into the hole, each looking around for what Pearl had described. Topaz strolled up to the control panel, a large left hand that was currently down by her shin. She squated and poked a few buttons and it rose to its normal height, so she could stand normally.

She slowly navigated her way through the control room's database, finding information about the cluster and ancient reports of Earth. Steven sat back on his knees, looking over at the screen before Topaz.

"Why can't you just call Homeworld from here?" He asked.

Topaz looked up from what she was doing, "Oh, because the energizing crystal got destroyed somehow." She gestured to the large green crystals that were cracked; thanks to Amethyst. "It doesn't have enough power to send a long-distance message."

"Then how would _we_ get enough power?" Steven asked.

Topaz shrugged, "That's not my job to figure out. Aven's working on it. I just send the messages."

"Aventurine sure does a lot." Steven observed. "She's your leader when PTE isn't around. She's making the communicator, and the ship..."

"She has to." Topaz said, her fingers stilling, hovering over the commands. Her voice grew a bit hollow; distant, but emotional. "Ave has to prove that she's worth keeping around. Even more than me. She's… different."

"Even more than you?" Steven asked.

Topaz smiled, "Yeah. Aven always had to do more; be better, than the average gem. I was with her since the beginning. You don't have to worry about it any. It's Homeworld stuff."

The strange mood was broken as Amethyst pulled out a chunk of metal and wires. "You think this is it?"

"Unplug it and find out." Topaz suggested. Amethyst pulled the gadget free and the screen Topaz was looking at immediately shut off. "Yeah, that's it."

* * *

"We're baaaack!" Steven cheered as he ran up to the barn with the communicator in his hands. Amethyst and Topaz ran after him; grinning at his excitement.

Topaz's smile fell when she saw Purple Tiger Eye. "Ugh. Why are _you_ here?"

"Because I'm actually _wanted_." Purple sneered. "Aventurine asked for me."

"Aven!" Topaz whined. "I thought you were on my side!" Then she turned to Purple, getting up in her face, with a heat and intensity that made the fusion step back slightly, "Also, don't you _ever_ say that Ave doesn't want me, you dirty piece of crust."

Tiger held up her hands in defense, "Alright, whatever. I couldn't care less what you two do with each other. I just want to point out that _you_ were the one sent away to the Kindergarten and _I_ was the one that was-"

"Enough." Aventurine said, keeping her face turned toward the communicator, "Steven, child, did you get the parts requested?"

"M'lady." Steven presented the grey gem the piece from the Kindergarten. "Perfect condition."

Aventurine's fingers gently brushed over the part, exploring every piece of it. "Well, that's an exaggeration. But, there shall be no, what do you call it, handler's fee."

Steven beamed, "Good, cuz Dad always complains about those kind of taxes."

Topaz dropped down next to them, lowering her voice, "Seriously, Aven, why is she here?"

"I wanted to see if the communicator would work without the part and how far that signal could be cased." Aventurine said slowly, tensely. "The Suicide Squad refused to have their projection sent out and Lavender was too timid to do so on her own."

Topaz immediately shut her mouth so hard it clacked. "I'm sorry, Ave, I didn't-"

"Shh." Aventurine placed a hand on Topaz's knee, "It's alright."

Steven frowned, watching the exchange. Everything about it made sense, except for, "Why didn't you just be broadcasted, Aventurine?"

Topaz felt anger boil up in her stomach, she was about to turn to tell the kid off when Aventurine, surprisingly, told the simple truth. "I cannot."

"Oh." Steven thought for a moment, he seemed hesitant to ask, "...Why?"

"My form doesn't work well with holographic projection." Aventurine said quietly, like she was sharing a secret. Which, she kind of was. Topaz sat back, keeping her mouth shut, and letting the two dictate the conversation.

Steven grinned, "Like when I get nauseous from playing too many videogames?"

"Something like that." Aventurine replied, slowly returning back to her work.

Topaz took that as her signal, "Alright, half-gem, no more questions. Let's go stick mud in Tiger's hair."

"Hey, wanna hear a joke?" Steven asked as they got up.

"Sure?" Peridot and Amethyst had already taught her the concept of a joke. She tried to remember the ones the smaller gems had told her as she led Steven out of the barn.

"What's brown and sticky?"

"I don't know."

"A stick!"

* * *

Purple Tiger Eye glared at Topaz from where she stood by a bucket of water. Her and Steven put a ball of mud in her long white hair, and now she was trying to get it out. The childishness of that soldier, ugh!

"Why does she hate me so much?" Tiger asked herself. "She likes us fine when we're separate."

"It's because we're a fusion." She replied, raking her fingers through her hair. "She hardly ever talks to Mrs. and Mrs. Garnet."

"I don't understand why she could hate something so, so..." She thought for a word, but couldn't really find one. How do you describe fusion in one word? It's intense and intimidating and intimate, but it's also fulfilling and warm and perfect. She realized, she didn't even have to finish her thought, because she already knew what she was trying to say.

"I know." Tiger huffed, gently braiding a strand of clean, wet hair. "Maybe she can't fuse. Because of her gem."

Tiger scowled at herself, "I don't think you were supposed to know about her gem."

Tiger scoffed, "Well, then you shouldn't have fused with me. I know what you know."

"Yeah, well I wish I knew what _she_ was thinking."

There was a silence as she worked in peace, and then she suddenly froze as a thought ran through her mind. She looked up at Topaz again, who was laughing with Amethyst. "No."

"But what if-"

"No."

"I'm just saying-"  
"I know, and no!"

Tiger threw three of her hands up in the air, "Oh, come on! You're supposed to be the childish one! Just go along with it!"

Tiger sighed, "I know if we fiss, then I'm not going to be able to win this fight. So I'm going to tell you now, so you can _know_ what I mean."

She gazed over at Garnet, her eyes softening slightly, "To do what you want to do, it's a big deal. You can't just casually… it's a huge invasion of privacy."

"Yes, I know that. But don't you want to know, too?" Tiger looked down at her hands. "I won't even do it. You can. You can be the one who decides what I get to know. Fusing with a Chrysoberyl is a _good_ thing. She could feel what I feel when I fuse with you."

"The permafusion will get mad."

"I know. I just… I want to know how she feels about… a lot of stuff." Tiger's shoulders slumped and she sat back against the fence. One hand ran through her hair, sighing.

She blinked and she was no longer there. In her place was two gems, huddled close to each other. One looking and feeling like she was the worst gem in existence for even _suggesting_ such a thing. The other with head in her hands, frantically trying to figure out what would be the right thing to do in this situation.

Cat growled, a little hissing sound, and looked up to Topaz. "It's not right. I can't just fuse with her so you can figure out if she likes you."

"That's not all, though!" Lavender was quick to reply, ignoring the dark blush on her cheeks, "We should know our teammates better in order to be able to work with them. You saw how mad she got when she saw us. Why does she hate fusion so much? It can't just be Homeworld racism."

Cat squirmed uncomfortably, "But, she's our friend! She trusts us!"

"If she trusted us, she would feel comfortable around _us_!" Lav said. She ran a hand through her hair and looked over to Topaz. "Look, if you don't, I will." Her blush darkened, "Actually, no I won't. But, if you don't, then we'll never know."

"We could _ask!_ " Cat said, "Honestly is the best policy! You look nice today, by the way."

"Thank you. But how do we know if she's being honest?!" Lavender blinked, looking away from Cat. "I just want to be there for her. And I feel like I can't when she doesn't even want me to be there."

"Also you wanna know if she like likes you." Cat added, crossing her arms.

"Th-that too." Lavender frowned at herself. "Look, I know it's an awful thing. Just pretend I never thought it. You wouldn't have known if we weren't fused."

Cat looked up at the emotional state her friend was in. She looked over to Topaz, then back to Lavender again. "If she's going to have her first fusion, it should be with a Chrysoberyl. It's what we're made for."

Lav's eyes widened, "Are you serious?"

"I'm super serious." Cat said. "But! Imma ask her. And if she says no, that's it. No more."

"Yes! Of course!" Lav agreed immediately, nodding aggressively. "Don't push her. But make sure she says yes."

Cat stood up, dusting off her hands. To herself, she mumbled, "I feel icky."

Lavender stopped the other gem, guilt suddenly wracking through her, "Hey, you don't have to do this."

"I gotta at least try. You're right. Being with a Chrysoberyl could be good for her." Cat brushed her fingers over her gem; it shone in the sunlight. "Like it was good for you."  
"Right." Lavender whispered, her throat feeling dry.

The two walked over to the rest of the group; their eyes cast low. Garnet looked over to them and Lavender almost froze in her spot. The fusion appeared as if she knew what they were discussing and disapproved of it deeply. But Cat immediately put on her bubbly, childish persona and bounded up to Topaz.

She grabbed Topaz's hands and singed, "Hey, Topaaaaaaz!"

"What do you want?" Topaz muttered, glaring down at the happy gem.

"To fuse!" Cat cheered.

Topaz immediately choked on her spit, stumbling back and ripping her hands out of Cat's grasp. "W-WHAT?!"

"Just for a lil bit." Cat said, smiling innocently.

"Absolutely not!" Topaz refused, her face a bright red. The other gems stopped what they were doing and looked up at the commotion. Aventurine walked closer, her hands facing forward, her steps hesitant.

"Don't you wanna see if you can?" Cat frowned slightly, "I know you can't do all the stuff you're sposta. But maybe you can fuse! And wouldn't that be cool if you could!? And then you can fuse all the time with people! It's a lot of fun and I think you'd really like it and what if you had to fuse one day, but you didn't know if you could or not? And so now we can see if-"

Topaz crouched down and slapped her hand over Cat's face. "If you _ever_ say I can't do something again I'll crack you."

Cat nodded enthusiastically, her voice muffled, "No, I didn't mean it as a bad thing. It's okay that you're different and it's not your fault at all. I can't touch my toes sometimes. It doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with me."

Topaz frowned at the smaller gem. "You're not really making a good case for yourself, here."

"But I'm a Chrysoberyl! Fusing with me is gonna be super cool and it'll make you feel warm inside and I'll be really nice and there's really no better gem to have your first fusion be with." Cat continued, patting Topaz's knee warmly. "I'll be good for you!"

The bigger gem blushed darker, looking over at the small crowd around them. "I don't think so."

"Have you ever tried?" Cat chirped, "to see if the Era Two Topaz could fuse? Consider it an experiment!"

Topaz recoiled violently at the word, falling from her crouch into the dirt. "Never!"

"Topaz." Aventurine calmly said, causing the other gem to look up at her. "It might be worth it. Just to see if it's even possible."

Topaz bit her lip, a shudder running through her form. "But, Ave… it's fusion!"

"I know." Aventurine lowered her hands and Topaz stood up, stepping close to her friend. They lowered their voices, but it was easy to hear the words carried in the wind. "But it might be more beneficial. You're not like me. You might be able to."

"Aven," Topaz whispered, her forehead dropping down to rest on the other's. "I… I'm _scared_."

"Of course you are." Aventurine whispered back. "It's fusion."

Topaz sighed, looking away from her. "What if I can't? What if we never…"

"It'll be alright." Aventurine brushed a grey hand across Topaz's chest. "It's not the end of the world. And Cat's Eye is right; there's no better first gem than a Chrysoberyl."

"I could think of a few." Topaz muttered. Aventurine laughed; a strangely musical sound that filled Lavender's head and made her want to laugh along with her. It was the first time the grey gem had laughed around her and she was surprised by how much she liked the sound of it.

"It's your choice, Pazzy." Aventurine said, a laugh still in her voice. "But, I would do it, if I could."

Topaz huffed. She leaned into Aventurine for a few more seconds, and then straightened her back, squared her shoulders, and turned to Cat. "Fine."

"Really?" Cat and Lav said at the same time.

Topaz didn't reply, she just held out her hand, her eyes averted. Cat blinked in surprise, but took the other's hand. Garnet's scowl deepened as Topaz threw the smaller gem into the air. Cat curled in a somersault, her gem starting to glow. Topaz stepped back, her body moving to a beat no one else could hear. Without having to look, she caught Cat with one hand and tossed her into the other. Steven stood watching, his mouth agape as the two started to fuse. There was a bright light, a mix of green and orange.

Their bodies disappeared and the faint outline of something new, something big could be seen through the light. Lavender watched with wide eyes as a single hand reached out from the light. It was the biggest gem Lavender had ever seen, but it was certainly only marginally bigger than Purple Tiger Eye. But then the hand stopped; it flexed once and then immediately burst into a ball of light. The mini explosion forced the onlookers to close their eyes.

Sitting in the aftermath, was a very furious Topaz and a slightly disappointed Cat. Topaz growled, spitting and kicking. She ran her fingers through her hair and cussed her Diamond. Aventurine and Lavender were by her side in a moment.

"It's alright, Topaz." Aventurine said, her hands finding the other gems to keep her from hurting herself. "It wasn't meant to be."

"I couldn't do it." Topaz hissed, tears in her eyes. "I couldn't- we were so close and I fucked it up."

"It's not your fault." Lavender said, placing a hand on Topaz's shoulder, but quickly removing it when she realized it was over her gem. Her slightly shredded gem. The thing that kept her from fusing. "Don't blame this on yourself."

Topaz pushed past Lavender, not listening to them. "I shouldn't have even tried!"

Aventurine ran after her, keeping a hand on the other gem at all times. Lavender watched as they stalked off, her heart sinking. Cat appeared next to her a moment later.

"She really was close. We almost completely fused." Cat said, "But then, it just felt like there was a huge piece missing. And I can't fuse with nothing."

"That _wasn't_ the issue." A deep voice said behind them. Lavender and Cat flinched, already knowing they were in trouble. They turned to see Garnet, towering over them, her arms crossed. "Clearly she was uncomfortable with the idea of fusion. And you two forced her."

"We didn't force her." Lav said, "We just … convinced her."

Cat looked down at her feet, kicking the dirt slightly, "I just wanted to help her."

"No, you didn't." Garnet said, "You wanted to use fusion to get information out of her for your own personal gain."

Lavender could see her reflection in the visor Garnet always wore. She hated what she saw there. She looked down, "That wasn't the full reason… we also wanted to know if she could fuse. And being with Cat is so … helpful… we thought it would make the team better."

Garnet sighed and sat down in the dirt. Cat crawled into her lap without asking permission. She stuck her thumb in her mouth and droopily watched the ants scatter into the grass. Lavender sat down in front of Garnet. She could also fit in the fusions lap. But the thought made her heart race for many different reasons.

"Fusion is not a _tool_." Garnet said, holding her hands out for them to look at the two gems there. "It's an extraordinarily intimate process. You're giving your mind, body, gem, and soul to the other person. I would've thought you two would've understood the implications of that."

Lavender made eye contact with Cat. The smaller gem bit her thumb and looked away. When they fused, it was intimate, sure, but it wasn't really _that_ intimate. Cat just washed away all her fears and doubts. She just fixed everything that Lavender broke. She made them the leader they were supposed to be. Cat didn't have a dark past or intense emotions. There wasn't much to take your breath away when you were suddenly one with her.

But, on the other hand, Lavender was a whirlwind. She was endless thoughts and a pounding heart. She was intense feelings in her gut and a tired mind. She was insecurities and anxieties. She was quick decisions and words not said. She was a mess; nothing but emotions and previous pain. She put everything on the line every time she fused with Cat. The smaller gem knew ever thought that crossed her mind before she even thought it. It was the most terrifyingly intimate process ever. That's why Lavender didn't want to be the one to fuse with Topaz. She didn't want her to know everything that made her Lavender. But she wanted to know everything that made her Topaz. The unfairity was clear.

"M' sorry, Mrs. and Mrs. Garnet." Cat mumbled, patting the fusion's thick thigh. "I knew you'd be mad, too."

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Topaz." Garnet said, "She almost said no. Now she wishes she did. That's a lot of pain you put in her just now."

Lavender sighed, "It's my fault. The whole thing was my idea."

"I know." Garnet stared at her and Lavender wanted to bit her tongue. "You're just lucky Topaz doesn't know your intentions." She paused and then added, "There's a level of trust that goes along with agreeing to fuse. It's something that isn't spoken of or taught on Homeworld. But when you're fusing with a different gem, you are agreeing to give them everything you are. And you expect them to do the same for you. There can be no malicious intent in fusion. And both gems have to open themselves up completely to the other. Topaz clearly wasn't ready."

"...So?" Lavender asked quietly. Not sound rude or insensitive, but they already knew that. What was the intent of restating it?

"So," Garnet said, slightly irritated, "the issue was not her gem. But her own insecurities. Topaz could fuse if she really wanted to."

Lavender's heart stuttered in her chest. She almost shouted, "How do you know that?!"

"One of my gems is a Sapphire." Garnet said.

"Oh, my Diamond!" Lav scrambled away from Garnet, saluting her immediately, "I am so sorry. I worked under a Sapphire for a short while. Until she predicted my failure in the mission and dropped me to work under an Agate and well, really, I should have known, I'm sorry, your elegancy."

Garnet sighed. It could have been a laugh, but it was a bit too tired. "You don't have to salute me. We don't do that on Earth."

Lavender lowered her arms, confused, but she was smart enough not to argue with a superior. "Yes, your elegancy… So, if I may ask, does that mean that you saw a future in which Cat and Topaz successfully fused?"

Garnet paused, looking at the setting sun. "A few of them."

Cat blinked her eye, looking over at the sun as well, wondering what kinds of things the fusion saw there. Lavender, however, was far too ecstatic to just sit still and watch the sun sink below the horizon. She jumped up, her hands shaking, "My elegancy, you have to tell her!"

"It would be a mistake." Garnet said, looking down at Cat's Eye. "For the moment, let her grieve. If you tell her now that the problem was not her gem, but herself, she will only get more upset."

"Well, then, what are we supposed to do?" Lavender deflated slightly.

Garnet looked over at the barn. Pearl and Steven had put everything away. Amethyst was talking with Peridot in a low voice. Lapis was sitting on the roof, storm clouds forming in the distance. Everyone appeared solemn and serious after the failed attempt at fusion. Garnet picked up Cat and handed her to Lavender.

"For now, think about what you did. And be grateful that the fusion failed." Garnet stood up and started backing towards the others. "If Topaz and Cat were able to fuse completely, Topaz would have known what you planned."

Lavender swallowed hardly and looked down at her feet.

"And she wouldn't have just stormed off."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!


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